BRiste: 


^oH.- 


**?_'!? 


THE  [  ^ 


±r  ,<\ 


MINOR  PROPHETS; 


NOTES, 

CRITICAL,  EXPLANATORY,  AND    PRACTICAL, 

DESIGNED  FOR  BOTH  PASTORS  AND  PEOPLE. 


EEV.  IIEKEY  COWLES. 


"  Understandest  thou  what  thou  readest  ?    And  he  said,  How  can  I,  except  some 
man  should  guide  me  ?  "—Acts  8 :  30,  31. 


NEW  YORK  : 

D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY, 
413  &  4-45  BROADWAY. 

1867. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1SGG.  by 
ftEV.  HENRY  COWLES, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the 
Northern  District  of  Ohio. 


M 


PEEFACE 


The  Christian  commentator,  assuming  that  the  Scrip- 
tures are  from  God,  infers  their  inestimable  value  to  man- 
kind. Assuming  also  that  God  speaks  to  man  in  love  and 
for  his  good,  he  infers  that  originally,  to  common  hearers 
and  readers,  his  words  must  have  been  readily  intelligible. 
Hence  he  finds  his  work  to  be,  comprehensively,  to  get 
possession  of  the  same  means  for  understanding  the  words 
of  God  which  were  enjoyed  by  those  first  hearers  and 
readers,  including  specially  the  language  in  which  God 
spake,  the  historic  facts  to  which  he  alludes,  and  the  scenes 
in  nature  and  common  life  from  which  he  drew  his  illustra- 
tions. So  much  he  must  have  in  order  to  a  clear  and  full 
understanding  for  himself  of  the  ancient  words  of  God 

to  men. Then  it  remains  only  to  put  his  readers  in 

possession  of  his  views  of  the  Sacred  "Word.  To  do  this  lie 
may  lead  them  over  all  the  ground  which  he  himself  has 
travelled,  i.  e.,  through  the  original  Hebrew,  unfolding  its 
laws  of  etymology,  syntax,  and  usage  of  words,  and  also 
through  all  the  details  of  historic  investigation:  or  he 
may  place  before  his  readers  for  the  most  part  only  the 
results  at  which  he  has  arrived.     In  the  former  case,  he 


jv  PREFACE. 

writes  for  scholars  only ;  in  the  latter,  for  readers  of  all 
classes. 1  have  adopted  mainly  the  latter  method,  aim- 
ing to  meet  the  wants,  not  of  Hebrew  scholars  only  or 
chiefly,  but  of  all  English  readers.  I  have  had  in  view 
somewhat  specially  those  who  have  been  and  are  yet  to  be 
trained  to  thoughtful  study  of  God's  word  in  Sabbath 
schools  and  Bible  classes,  and  indeed  all  those  laymen  and 
women  who  love  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  and  who  naturally 

wish  to  know  their  full  and  precise  meaning. While  in 

the  main  it  has  been  my  plan  to  give  results  only,  and  not 
the  processes  by  which  I  reach  them,  yet  points  of  great 
practical  interest  and  value,  e.  </.,  those  prophecies  respect- 
ing the  Messiah  and  his  kingdom  which  yet  remain  in  part 
to  be  fulfilled,  I  have  deemed  it  important  to  discuss 
fundamentally  and  thoroughly,  so  that  the  reader  may  see 
what  principles  of  interpretation  I  adopt,  and  why, — and 
also  to  what  results  they  have  led  me.  A  superficial  treat- 
ment of  these  points  ought  to  be  eminently  unsatisfactory. 
The  commentator  has  his  option  whether  to  restrict 
his  work  mainly  to  the  unfolding  of  the  exact  sense,  or  to 
speak  more  or  less  fully  of  the  practical  and  moral  applica- 
tions of  the  truth  which  he  brings  out.  These  moral 
applications  are,  of  course,  of  the  utmost  importance  to 
every  reader;  yet  usually  God  has  left  each  reader  to  make 
them  for  himself,  and  adapt  them  to  his  own  case.  Hence 
I  have  thought  it  cannot  be  unwise  for  me  to  follow  for  the 
most  part  the  same  method — assuming  that  God's  word  as 
it  came  from  his  lips  will  have  power  on  men's  hearts  when 
*  the  full  sense  of  it  is  clearly  apprehended.  I  have  therefore 
spoken  of  the  moral  bearings  and  applications  of  the  truth 
only  in  fewest  words,  suggestively  and  by  no  means  ex- 
haustively, and  rather  as  a  specimen  and  illustration  of 


PREFACE.  v 

the  practical  use  to  be  made  of  the  divine  word.  By  this 
method,  the  work  is  much  reduced  in  size  and  expense  ;  is 
brought  within  the  means  and  the  time  for  reading  of  a 
much  greater  number;  and  still,  it  is  hoped,  without  lessen- 
ing its  moral  and  spiritual  value. 

The  study  of  the  Bible  has  been  to  me,  above  all  other 
studies,  my  life-work  and  my  life-joy.  Through  divine 
mercy  and  a  fore-ordering  providence,  my  attention  has 
been  turned  and  held  very  'considerably  during  forty  years 
past  to  the  study  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  and  especially 
to  the  writings  of  the  prophets.  At  the  urgent  suggestion 
of  friends,  and  under  a  strong  conviction  of  the  need  of  a 
commentary  on  these  books  adapted  to  all  readers,  I 
entered,  three  years  ago,  upon  the  preparation  of  these 
volumes,  fully  purposed  to  spare  no  pains,  first  to  reach 
the  exact  and  full  thought  in  these  sacred  words,  and  then 
to  present  it  with  whatever  clearness,  brevity,  and  force  I 

couM  command. These  years  of  study  and  writing  have 

been  to  me  a  continual  feast.  Such  a  profusion  of  literary 
and  poetic  beauties  as  lie  here,  is  one  of  God's  great 
benefactions,  yet  is  not  to  be  named  in  comparison  with 
the  value  of  these  truths  fresh  from  the  infinite  mind  of 
our  divine  Father,  and  from  his  parental  heart.  It  is  a 
luxury  to  see  the  lines  of  evidence  converging  to  a  focus  to 
certify  the  exact  meaning  of  God's  word,  and  to  bring  out 
that  meaning  in  sunlight  before  the  mind.  It  ought  to  be 
and  is  a  luxury  even  more  rich  to  feel  the  presence  and  the 
power  of  such  truth  upon  the  heart.  The  writer  has  gone 
through  these  prophetic  books  with  a  growing  sense  of  the 
richness  and  fulness  of  their  provisions  for  both  the  mind 
and  the  heart,  earnestly  wishing  that  his  readers  may 
partake  of  this  feast,  and  drink  deeply  at  these  fountains. 


vi  PEEFACE. 

This  volume  is  sent  forth  in  the  hope  that  it  may  aid  the 
studies  and  refresh  the  souls  of  those  who  prize  the  Sacred 
Word,  and  rejoice  in  the  growing  sway  of  light  and  love 
under  the  o^reat  Redeemer's  reisrn. 

It  has  been  thought  best  to  begin  with  the  minor  proph- 
ets. The  notes  on  the  remaining  prophets,  upon  the  same 
general  plan,  have  been  prepared  for  the  press,  and  may 
appear  at  some  future  day,  if  it  should  seem  desirable. 

The  reader  will  be  careful  to  observe  that  in  the  notes, 
italic  words  are  emphatic ;  but  in  the  sacred  text,  as  in  all 
English  Bibles,  they  indicate  that  there  are  no  correspond- 
ing words  in  the  original  Hebrew.  Hence  they  are  often 
the  opposite  of  emphatic, — a  more  just  translation  dispens- 
ing with  them  altogether. 

The  author  has  aimed  to  give  either  a  translation,  more 
or  less  free,  or  a  paraphrase,  in  all  cases  where  he  has  been 
compelled  to  differ  from  the  received  version.  These  pas- 
sages are  usually  indicated  by  marks  of  quotation.        % 

Oberlin,  Ohio,  Sept.,  1866. 


/ 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  PROPHETS. 


The  Mosaic  system  comprised  institutions  and  agencies  for 
sustaining  the  religious  life  of  the  Hebrew  people.  The  priests 
and  the  Levites  were  religious  orders,  held  responsible  for  this 
service.  In  the  degenerate  ages  of  the  nation,  the  forms  of 
their  religion  lost  their  spiritual  power,  and  those  religious 
orders  seem  to  have  gone  down  morally  in  the  general  declen- 
sion. Hence  there  arose  a  demand  for  a  new  order  of  men, 
and  prophets  appeared,  holding  their  individual  commissions 
direct  from  the  living  God.  Singled  out  by  his  special  call,  they 
went  forth  with  his  definite  messages,  calling  upon  the  people 
to  hear  his  voice,  and  turn  from  their  sins  to  righteousness. 
Hence  it  resulted,  from  the  very  circumstances  which  called  into 
existence  the  order  of  prophets,  that  their  main  work  should  be 
to  preach  reform  ;  to  rebuke  the  prevalent  sins  of  the  nation ; 
to  denounce  their  idolatry,  their  self-righteousness,  their  heart- 
less formality,  and  their  oppression  of  the  poor ;  to  threaten  im- 
pending judgments,  and  to  call  the  people  back  to  their  for- 
saken God. 

A  portion  of  them  (not  all)  have  left  in  writing  more  or  less 
of  the  messages  sent  by  them  from  God  to  the  people.  Some, 
whose  position  is  quite  prominent  in  the  history  (e.  g.,  Elijah 
and  Elisha),  have  left  no  books  of  their  own.  Others,  whose 
names  are  not  in  the  historic  annals,  have  left  valuable  writings. 
Manifestly  each   followed,  in  this  respect,  his  own  word  from 


viii         GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  PROPHET,*. 

the  Lord — the  Lord  in  his  wisdom  using  these  servants  of  his 
for  the  work  which  he  most  needed  done  and  which  they  were 
best  qualified  to  do. 

It  is  manifest,  both  from  the  history  and  from  the  tenor  of 
these  recorded  prophecies,  that  with  few  if  any  exceptions  they 
first  bore  their  messages  from  God  to  the  people,  with  the  liv- 
ing voice,  in  the  form  of  direct  address.  It  may  be  safely 
assumed  that  those  portions  were  committed  to  writing  which 
embraced  prophecy  yet  to  be  fulfilled,  or  which  would  be 
specially  useful,  either  to  the  Jewish  or  the  Gentile  Church, 
along  the  course  of  future  ages. 

These  writings  of  the  Hebrew  prophets  arc  now  before  us 
— rich  treasures  of  truth  and  experience  from  the  ancient  past, 
God's  own  words,  given  to  "  holy  men  of  old,  who  spake  as 
they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  Noble  men  were  they, 
of  martyr  spirit,  of  Christian  heroism,  of  faith  and  courage 
inspired  by  the  sense  of  a  special  mission  from  the  Most  High ; 
men  whose  record  the  world  cannot  afford  to  lose,  nor  the 
Christian  Church  to  drop  from  her  living  thought.  With  what 
power  of  logic  have  they  set  forth  the  claims  of  God  upon  his 
rational  creatures !  How  have  they  depicted  the  ingratitude, 
the  meanness,  the  folly,  and  the  madness  of  sin  !  With  what 
solemn  and  thrilling  words  have  they  spoken  of  the  judgments 
which  God  would  send,  and  did,  upon  guilty  nations,  Jew  and 
Gentile,  in  retribution  on  sinners,  whom  no  warning  from  his 
voice  availed  to  reclaim,  and  whose  sins  even  the  great  forbear- 
ance of  God  could  not  longer  endure !  How  pertinent  and  for- 
cible arc  the  moral  lessons  which  come  down  to  us  from  such 
living  examples  !  Do  proud  rulers  question  whether  there  be 
an  infinite  Moral  Governor  of  the  universe  ?  Do  they  doubt 
whether  he  takes  note  of  the  sins  of  mighty  nations,  and  holds 
both  them  and  their  rulers  to  a  strict  moral  accountability? 
Do  they  vainly  think  to  set  justice  at  naught,  and  trample  down 
the  helpless — no  God  from  on  high  regarding  and  avenging  ? 
Or  do  they  presume  that  he  is  too  tender-hearted  or  too  weak 
to  punish,  so  that  strong  men  and  proud  nations  shall  feel  it? 

On  all  these  and  on  all  kindred  points,  the  logic  of  facts 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION  TO   TIIS  PROPHETS.  ix 

affords  demonstration,  not  only  convincing,  but  appalling.  It 
must  be  morally  wholesome  to  study  such  testimonies  from  the 
actual  ways  of  God  in  the  teaching  past.  It  were  madness  to 
ignore  them. 

Here  also,  coupled  with  these  terrible  retributions  from  God 
upon  persistent  sinners,  are  the  most  touching  invitations  to  re- 
turn in  penitence,  and  the  richest  promises  of  pardon  to  the  hum- 
ble and  the  contrite.  You  are  impressed  as  you  read  with  a 
sense  that  these  words  of  promise  are  freighted  with  a  wealth 
of  love  unknown  in  human  hearts,  and  truly  worthy  of  a  God. 
Whoever  with  honest  mind  shall  take  in  their  full  significance, 

and  not  abuse   it,  will  surely  find  in  it  a  blessing. It  was 

one  of  the  special  functions  of  those  ancient  prophets  to  minis- 
ter to  the  faith  and  hope  of  the  few  yet  found  faithful  among 
the  mfmy  faithless.  To  them,  and  primarily  for  their  sake, 
God  spake,  through  his  servants,  of  the  great  things  then  in 
the  future  of  his  Zion.  The  Messiah  yet  to  come;  the  work 
he  should  achieve  while  yet  among  men  in  the  flesh ;  the  mis- 
sion of  the  Holy  Spirit;  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles;  the 
fortunes  of  the  Jews — at  first  mostly  cast  off  for  their  unbelief, 
but  ultimately  brought  in  through  great  mercy  ;  the  abrogation 
of  the  sacrificial  system ;  the  outgoing  of  the  gospel  to  the  dis- 
tant nations  of  the  earth ;  the  mission  of  truth  and  its  triumphs 
in  every  land,  and  the  final  victory  of  Christ  over  all  opposing 
powers :  these  things  are  grouped  together  into  these  glorious 
visions  of  the  then  distant  future — a  grand  and  sublime  pan- 
orama of  the  Christian  age  in  whole,  making  revelations  even 
to  us  who  live  midway  in  their  fulfilment,  such  as  no  lover  of 
his  race  and  lover  of  Christ  can  contemplate  without  being 
quickened  anew  in  faith  and  love  for  the  prayer  and  the  work 
to  which  Christ  calls  him.  How  earnestly  do  these  prophecies 
invite  the  most  careful  study !  We  do  not  wonder  that  Peter 
should  endorse  and  commend  them  to  his  Christian  brethren, 
saying :  "  We  have  also  the  word  of  prophecy  made  more 
sure  («'.  e.,  by  its  incipient  fulfilment),  whereunto  ye  do  well  that 
ye  take  heed  as  to  a  light  that  shineth  in  a  dark  place  until  the 
day  dawn,  and  the  day-star  arise  in  your  hearts"  (2  Peter:  1, 


x  GENERAL  INTRODUCTION   TO   THE  PROPHETS. 

19).  Truly  tins  "prophetic  word"  does  shed  forth  a  glorious 
light  upon  the  future  history  of  our  world,  a  place  otherwise 
utterly  dark  to  mortal  vision ;  and  equally  true  is  it  that  in 
giving  due  heed  to  this  light,  and  in  bringing  our  souls  fully 
under  its  illuminating  power  and  its  inspiring  influence,  a 
glorious  "  day"  dawns  upon  us;  the  day-star  of  faith  and  hope 
arises,  and  we  wake  to  the  work  of  the  millennial  age,  to  joyful 
anticipations  of  its  approach,  and  to  a  sense  of  the  ocean  fulness 
of  its  blessings  for.  a  world  redeemed. 

Yet,  rich  in  gospel  truth  and  inspiring  to  faith  as  this  pro- 
phetic word  truly  is,  no  portion  of  the  Scriptures  is  so  little 
read,  so  little  studied,  and  so  little  understood.  Nowhere  else 
in  human  lano;uao;e  does  there  lie  such  a  mass  of  half-buried 
and  almost  unknown  treasures.  True,  they  come  to  us  in  a 
language  now  long  unspoken,  but  diligent  labor  can  unl&ck  its 
meaning  ;  in  figures  somewhat  unfamiliar,  yet  not  unintelligible ; 
with  allusions  to  history  then  past,  and  to  life-scenes  then  pres- 
ent, which  need  from  us  some  careful  research  to  bring  them 
within  command  for  ready  use.  These  circumstances  make 
labor  for  the  commentator ;  yet  when  his  work  is  well  done, 
the  resulting  profit  to  the  diligent  reader  will  be  richly  remu- 
nerative. 


HOSEA. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Hosea  prophesied  "  in  the  days  of  TJzziah,  Jothain,  Aliaz,  and 
Hezekiah,  kings  of  Jndah,  and  in  the  days  of  Jeroboam,  the  son  of 
Joash,  king  of  Israel."  This  covers  a  long  period  at  the  very  least, 
for,  from  the  death  of  Jeroboam  to  the  accession  of  Ilezekiah,  was 
fifty-six  years ;  to  which  mast  be  added  whatever  years  he  prophe- 
sied before  Jeroboam's  death  and  after  Hezekiah's  reign  began. 
Jeroboam  reigned  forty-one  years  (2  Kings  14 :  23),  and  Hezekinh 
twenty-nine.  How  much  of  either  of  these  reigns  fell  within  the 
prophetic  life  of  Hosea  there  are  no  positive  data  to  show ;  proba  • 
bly  several  from  each.  Various  allusions  to  events  past,  then  pass- 
ing, or  very  near,  locate  the  greater  part  of  this  book  within  the 
sixty-two  years  lying  between  the  death  of  Jeroboam  and  the  fall 
of  the  kingdom.  Jeroboam's  was  the  last  long  and  vigorous  reign, 
and  hence  the  only  one  in  Israel  worthy  of  being  named  in  this 
introduction.  The  ensuing  period  had  two  seasons  of  anarchy,  one 
of  eleven  years  and  the  other  of  nine ;  besides  the  reign  of  Zacha- 
riah,  six  months ;  of  Shallum,  two  months ;  of  Menahem,  ten  years ; 
of  Pekahiah,  two ;  of  Pekah,  nineteen,  and  of  Hoshea,  the  last,  nine. 
If,  now,  the  reader  recalls  the  facts  stated  in  the  history,  that  these 
six  kings  belonged  to  five  different  dynasties;  that  four  of  them  fell 
by  conspiracy,  and  a  fifth  with  the  final  fall  of  his  kingdom ;  and 
that  not  one  of  them  bears  any  other  record  than  that  of  "  doing 
evil' in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  departing  not  from  the  sins  of  Jero- 
boam, son  of  Nebat,  who  made  Israel  to  sin,"  he  will  have  valua- 
ble data  for  estimating  the  deplorable  state  of  morals,  piety,  and 
1 


2  IIOSEA.— CHAP.  I. 

civil  government  at  this  time.  During  this  same  period  Isaiah  and 
Micah  were  prophesying,  chiefly  in  Judah,  and  •  Amos,  like  Hosea, 
mostly  in  Israel.  The  latter  were  shut  up  by  the  force  of  circum- 
stances to  one  main  effort  to  convict  the  people  of  their  great  sins, 
and  to  call  them  to  repentance  toward  God  as  the  only  means  of 

saving  either  the  government  or  the  people  from  utter  ruin. 

Hence  the  prophecies  of  Hosea  are  full  of  rebuke  and  expostula- 
tion against  sin,  and  of  demonstrations  of  God's  loving-kindness 
and  pity  toward  his  people.  It  is  preeminently  the  book  in  the 
whole  Bible  for  times  of  spiritual  declension  and  sore  apostasy — 
God's  voice  of  warning  and  entreaty  to  any  people  who  once 
walked  in  fear  and  love  before  him,  but  who  have  become  deeply 
corrupt  in  heart  and  life.  Must  it  not  also  have  many  points  of 
forcible  application  to  the  great  American  people — a  nation  emi- 
nently favored  of  God,  but  grievously  apostate  from  his  fear  and 
honor  ? 

In  style,  Hosea  is  preeminently  concise  and  abrupt,  abounding 
in  historical  allusions  and  also  in  sudden  transitions,  which  involve 
more  or  less  obscurity.  Yet  the  book  will  yield  a  rich  reward  for 
close  and  earnest  study.  Let  the  reader  come  to  it  as  to  God's 
own  words,  through  one  of  his  faithful  but  long  and  sorely-tried 
servants,  remembering  his  own  closing  testimony :  "  Who  is  wise, 
and  he  shall  understand  these  things ;  prudent,  and  he  shall  know 
them ;  for  the  ways  of  the  Lord  are  right,  and  the  just  shall  walk 
in  them ;  but  the  transgressors  shall  fall  therein." 


CHAPTER    I. 

Tite  book  opens  with  events  peculiar  to  Hosea's  prophetic  min- 
istry— the  taking  of  a  wife  whose  lewdness  symbolized  the  infidel- 
ity  of  the  nation  to  God,  their  Maker  and  Husband;  and  the  birth 
and  naming  of  children  whose  names  were  significant  before  the 
people  of  their  relations  to  Jehovah. 

1.  The  vrord  of  the  Lord  that  came  mito  Hosea,  the 
son  of  Beeri,  in  the  clays  of  Uzziah,  Jotham,  Ahaz,  and 
Hezckiah,  kings  of  Judah,  and  in  the  days  of  Jeroboam 
the  son  of  Joash  king  of  Israel. 

The  reader  may  wisely  peruse  the  history  of  the  period  covered 
by  these  reigns  as  recorded  2  Kings  14 :  23  to  18  :  12,  and  also  in 
2  Chron.  chapters  2G-31.     The  record  is  a  dismal  one — revolutions, 


IIOSEA.— CHAP.  I.  3 

anarchy,  conspiracies,  universal  idolatry,  and  outbreaking  wicked- 


ness. 


2.  The  beginning  of  the  word  of  the  Loed  by  Hosea. 
And  the  Lord  said  to  Hosea,  Go,  take  unto  thee  a  wife 
of  whoredoms  and  children  of  whoredoms ;  for  the  land 
hath  committed  great  whoredom,  departing  from  the 
Lord. 

It  has  been  questioned  whether  this  taking  of  a  lewd  wife  were 
a  real  transaction.  Some  suppose  it  existed  only  in  vision.  The 
laws  of  prophetic  interpretation  forbid  this  view.  The  command 
is,  "  Go,  take ; "  and  nothing,  less  than  the  strongest  reasons  can 
justify  us  in  rejecting  the  obvious  sense  of  such  language.  Be- 
sides, what  could  be  the  use  of  such  a  thing,  if  done  only  in  vision ; 
and  especially,  what  could  be  the  use  of  it  to  the  people  ?  Yet  fur- 
ther, and  more  to  our  purpose  as  interpreters  of  God's  word — if  tlio 
Lord  meant  only  that  Hosea  saw  or  should  see  this  thing  in  vision, 
why  did  he  not  say  so  ?  Cases  in  which  things  were  to  be  done  in 
the  actual  life  of  the  prophets  for  the  greater  effect  as  symbols  be- 
fore the  people,  occur  frequently  in  Ezekiel,  and  occasionally  in 
other  Old  Testament  prophets.  But  see  this  subject  discussed  more 
fully  in  the  Appendix — Dissertation  I. 

A  second  question,  of  less  importance,  is,  whether  Gomer  was  a 
lewd  woman  before  marriage.  On  the  one  hand,  the  language  does 
not  absolutely  demand  the  affirmative,  while  yet  it  is  the  more  ob- 
vious sense  of  the  words.  On  the  other  hand,  the  negative  is  sup- 
ported by  the  circumstance  that,  so  interpreted,  the  case  better 
symbolizes  the  idolatry  of  Israel,  inasmuch  as  the  Lord  entered  into 
covenant  with  them  while  yet  they  were  mostly  pure  from  this 
great  sin.  It  is  not  necessary,  however,  that  the  symbol  should  fit 
at  all  possible  points.  The  one  main  point  is  the  grievous  guilt  of 
such  adultery.  I  pass  this  question,  simply  expressing  my  opinion 
that  she  had  been  lewd  before  marriage,  and  was  taken  as  a  wife 
upon  a  promise  of  conjugal  fidelity.  It  is  well  to  note  carefully 
that  the  Lord  gave  the  reasons  for  this  remarkable  command— viz. : 
because  the  land  had  become  wholly  adulterous  and  apostate  from 
God.  Of  course,  adultery  here  means  specially  idolatry.  By  the 
worship  of  idols  the  people  had  put  other  gods  before  Jehovah. 
They  had  faithlessly  broken  their  solemn  covenant  to  fear  and  serve 
the  Lord  alone.  This  covenant  can  find  no  better  symbol  among 
human  relations  than  that  by  which  one  man  and  one  woman  "be- 
come no  longer  twain,  but  one  flesh."  The  marriage  relation,  closer 
and  more  endearing  than  any  other,  comes  nearest  to  a  perfect 
symbol  of  the  covenant  relation  between  God  and  his  chosen  peo- 
ple.    It  is  therefore  used  with  great  pertinence,  beauty,  and  force. 

The  fact  is  humiliating  to  the  people  of  God  that  this  symbol 

should  find  its  most  abundant  occasion  for  use,  not  on  the  bright 
side  of  this  marriage  relation,  but  on  the  dark — the  shameful  infi- 


4  HOSEA.— CHAP.  I. 

delities  and  apostasies  of  the  people  in  the  times  of  Hosea,  Jere- 
miah, and  Ezekiel.  The  same  idea,  and  mostly  on  its  bright  side, 
underlies  the  forty-fifth  Psalm,  and  (as  the  Jews  must  have  under- 
stood it)  the  Book  of  Canticles ;  but  its  fuller  development  waited 
till  flagrant  sin  called  it  forth. 

Let  us  not  pass  this  point  without  taking  note  of  the  keenness 
of  the  domestic  trial  to  which  Hosea  was  subjected  at  his  very  en- 
trance upon  the  prophetic  work.  "We  sometimes  think  of  this  work 
as  bringing  the  prophet  into  near  and  honored  relations  to  Jehovah 
— as,  indeed,  sublimely  grand  and  glorious.  We  are  liable  to  forget 
that  for  even  such  prophets  to  live  godly  was  to  suffer.  Isaiah  * 
shrank  from  the  work;  Jonah  fled,  to  escape  its  responsibilities; 
Jeremiah  felt  heavily  on  his  heart  the  message  burdens  he  bore 
from  God  to  the  people ;  and  to  Hosea  was  allotted  this  bitter  af- 
fliction— a  wife  unfaithful  to  her  marriage  vows — that  he  might  be 
a  living  representative  of  the  great  sin  of  the  people  against  their 
divine  Husband ;  and  perhaps,  also,  that  his  own  experience  of  do- 
mestic wrong  and  wretchedness  might  give  him  a  keener  sense  of 
the  cruel  guilt  of  the  nation's  idolatry,  and  might  help  him  to  sym- 
pathize with  the  feelings  of  Jehovah  under  such  abuse. These 

trials  in  the  prophet's  mission  have  a  vital  bearing  on  the  question 
of  his  essential  honesty.  No  selfish  motive  could  have  moved  him 
to  such  a  life-work.  To  rebuke  sin  in  an  age  of  such  outbreaking 
and  universal  wickedness,  and  to  be  subjected  to  such  domestic  af- 
fliction for  the  sake  of  more  vividly  illustrating  the  apostasy  of  Is- 
rael from  their  God  involve  and  imply  an  honest,  self-sacrificing 
devotion  to  the  will  of  God,  and  quite  preclude  the  supposition  of 
his  being  an  impostor. 

3.  So  lie  went  and  took  Gomer  the  daughter  of  Dib- 
laim ;  which  conceived,  and  bare  him  a  son. 

4.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  him,  Call  his  name  Jez- 
reel ;  for  yet  a  little  while,  and  I  will  avenge  the  blood 
of  Jezreel  upon  the  house  of  Jehu,  and  will  cause  to 
cease  the  kingdom  of  the  house  of  Israel. 

5.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  at  that  day,  that  I  will 
break  the  bow  of  Israel  in  the  valley  of  Jezreel. 

The  word  Jezreel  has  a  two-fold  significance ;  the  one  drawn 
from  its  etymology,  the  other  from  its  history.  By  its  etymology 
it  means  the  Lord  will  sow,  or  the  LorcVs  sowing.  We  have  this 
sense  in  v.  11.  Great  shall  be  the  day  when  the  Lord  shall  sow  or 
plant  his  people  in  their  own  land.  By  historical  allusion,  the 
word  carries  us  back  to  the  city  bearing  that  name,  the  royal  resi-  J 
dence  of  Ahab ;  to  the  blood  shed  there  by  Jehu,  and  to  fhe  aveng- 
ing of  that  blood  upon  his  posterity.     See  2  Kings  10  :  11,  14. 

Naming  the  prophet's  first  child  Jezreel  denoted  that  this  avengin  . 
was  near  at  hand.    Jehu  by  promise  was  to  hold  the  throne  to  the 


' 


IJU 


nosEA.— chap.  i.  5 

fourtli  generation.  Jeroboam  II.  was  the  third  in  that  line ;  his 
son,  Zachariah,  was  the  fourth  and  last.  A  wicked  reign  of  six 
months  ended  his  life  and  the  dvnasty  of  Jehu.  See  2  Kings  15 : 
8-12. 

The  kingdom  of  the  house  of  Israel  was  to  cease  soon.  It 
ceased  fifty-one  years  after  the  death  of  this  king,  Zachariah.  It 
may  be  asked,  Did  not  the  Lord  (2  Kings  10  :  30)  approve  of  Jehu's 
deeds  in  destroying  the  house  of  Ahab  ?  And  if  so,  why  should 
he  now  avenge  that  blood  on  the  house  of  Jehu  ?  The  true  answer 
seems  to  be  that  he  in  part  approved  it,  and  therefore  in  part  re- 
warded Jehu — that  is,  by  giving  him  the  kingdom  to  the  fourth 
generation.  But  he  could  not  approve  his  spirit,  which  was  far 
from  being  right  before  God;  nor  could  he  approve  of  his  "  taking 
no  heed  to  walk  inthe  law  of  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  with  all  his 
heart,  departing  not  from  the  sins  of  Jeroboam,"  2  Kings  10  :  31. 

Hence  these  judgments  on  his  house. "  Breaking  the  bow  of 

JezreeV'  is  breaking  their  military  power — the  bow  being  then  the 
chief  weapon  of  war.  That  this  was  done  especially  in  the  valley 
of  Jczreel  is  every  way  probable,  though  there  is  no  definite  record 
of  the  event.  This  valley,  since  called  Esdraelon,  has  been  one  of 
the  most  noted  battle-grounds  in  history.  Here  Deborah  and 
Barak  fought  and  conquered ;  here  Gideon  scourged  and  drove  the 
Midianites;  here  Ahab  gained  a  great  victory  over  Ben-hadad. 
Here  have  fought  Komans,  Crusaders,  Egyptians,  and  Frenchmen. 
It  is  more  than  supposable  that  in  this  famous  valley  the  enfeebled 
hosts  of  Israel  made  their  last  stand  against  the  Assyrian  power. 

6.  And  she  conceived  again  and  bare  a  daughter. 
And  God  said  nnto  him,  Call  her  name  Lo-ruhamah :  for 
I  will  no  more  have  mercy  npon  the  house  of  Israel ; 
but  I  will  utterly  take  them  away. 

"  Lo-vuliamah"  is  literally  "  not  compassionated" — not  a  sub- 
ject of  mercy.  This  use  of  the  negative  Lo  implies  not  merely  the 
absence  of  mercy,  but  the  presence  of  wrath.  The  sense  is  not 
suspended  at  the  point  of  mere  negation,  but  goes  over  to  the  op- 
posite side.  Here  it  means  that  the  people  had  incurred  Jehovah's 
frozen.  He  would  not  any  more  show  mercy  to  the  people  of  the 
ten  tribes  in  such  form  as  to  arrest  and  turn  aside  his  impending, 
long-deserved  judgments.      On  the  contrary,  he  "would  utterly 

take  them  away"   into  captivity. As  to  the  last  clause,  the 

marginal  reading  suggests  another  possible  sense  of  the  original, 
viz. :  "  that  I  should  altogether  pardon  them."  The  original  He- 
brew verb  means  to  take  away,  and  is  sometimes  used  for  the  tak- 
ing away  of  sin.  But  the  connecting  particle  gives  this  as  the 
course  of  thought :  "  I  will  not  again  show  mercy  to  the  house  of 
Israel,  for  I  will  utterly  take  them  away,"  i.  <?.,  from  their  land. 
This  is  my  purpose. 

Lei 


6  HOSEA.— CHAP.  I. 

7.  But  I  will  have  mercy  upon  the  house  of  Judah, 
and  will  save  them  by  the  Lord  their  God,  and  will  not 
save  them  by  bow,  nor  by  sword,  nor  by  battle,  by 
horses,  nor  by  horsemen. 

There  was  still  in  Judah  some  true  fidelity  to  God ;  he  would 
therefore  yet  have  mercy  on  them.  The  expression — "  Save  them 
ly  the  Lord  their  God,  and  not  by  sword  or  battle,"  is  beautifully 
concise  and  forcible — as  if  Jehovah  were  himself  the  engines  of 
war,  the  sword  and  the  bow,  that  should  save  them.  The  might  of 
his  arm  is  finely  contrasted  with  the  might  of  human  prowess  in 
war. 

8.  Now  when  she  had  weaned  Lo-ruhamah,  she  con- 
ceived, and  bare  a  son. 

9.  Then  said  God,  Call  his  name  Lo-ammi :  for  ye 
are  not  my  people,  and  I  will  not  be  your  God. 

"  Lo-ammi "  signifies  not  my  people,  and  as  said  above  of  Lo- 
ruhamah,  it  implies  that  they  are  in  a  state  of  positive  rejection. 
God  was  about  to  disown  them — so  utterly  had  they  rejected  him 
by  their  abounding  persistent  idolatry,  by  forsaking  the  worship  of 

God,  and  by  most  flagrant  immoralities. How  impressive  to 

Hosea  must  have  been  all  the  scenes  and  sounds  of  his  household ! 
Often  as  he  spake  or  heard  spoken  the  names  of  these  two  children, 
the  thought  came — No  mercy  !  Not  my  people  !  A  like  testimony 
it  must  have  borne  to  the  people  among  whom  he  was  sent  as  the 
prophet  of  the  living  God. 

10.  Yet  the  number  of  the  children  of  Israel  shall 
be  as  the  sand  of  the  sea,  which  cannot  be  measured  nor 
numbered;  and  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  in  the  place 
where  it  was  said  unto  them,  Ye  are  not  my  people, 
there  it  shall  be  said  unto  them,  Ye  are  the  sons  of  the 
living  God. 

11.  Then  shall  the  children  of  Judah  and  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  be  gathered  together  and  appoint  them- 
selves one  head,  and  they  shall  come  up  out  of  the  land : 
for  great  shall  be  the  day  of  Jezreel. 

Here  is  a  sudden  transition  from  extreme  judgment  to  the  ful- 
ness of  mercy.  "  The  Lord  keepeth  not  his  anger  forever."  Re- 
markably is  it  his  method,  whether  by  prophet  or  apostle,  to  blend 
threatening  with  promise,  and  to  follow  the  sternest  denunciations 
with  outbursts  of  pity  and  love. — ■ — The  general  sense  of  the  pas- 
sage is — God  hath  not  forsaken  his  church  utterly  and  forever. 
Notwithstanding  this  ruin  now  coming  on  Israel,  the  Lord  shall  yet 


HOSEA.— CHAP.  I.  7 

have  a  people,  countless  as  the  sands,  united  also  and  prosperous, 

the  true  Israel  and  Judah. A  number  "as  the  sands  of  the  sea  " 

is,  of  course,  indefinitely  great,  denoting  the  highest  prosperity  and 
a  vast  increase  of  population,  compared  with  the  Israel  then  pres- 
ent.  What  is  spoken  of  here  as  currently  "  said  to  them  "  must 

be_construed  as  said,  because  true.  The  truth  of  it,  rather  than  the 
saying  of  it,  is  the  thing  specially  affirmed.  Whereas  ye  formerly 
were  not  my  people,  ye  shall,  in  the  future  time  referred  to,  be 

really  the  sons  of  the  living  God. No  special  stress  can  be  given 

to  the  words  "in  the  place  where,"  as  defining  any  particular 
locality.  It  is  used  adverbially  to  mean  that  instead  of— in  place 
of—  their  not  being  God's  people,  they  shall  really  be  his  sons. 

That  Israel  and  Judah  "  gather  together  and  appoint  themselves 
one  head,"  looks  by  historical  allusion  to  the  sad  history  of  the  re- 
cent past,  since  the  revolt  under  Jeroboam,  and  means  to  say  that 
in  this  good  time  coming,  that  sore  breach  shall  be  healed,  the 
rival  kingdoms  become  one,  and  "  Ephraim  no  more  envy  Judah, 
nor  Judah  vex  Ephraim."     The  Church  of  God,  in  those  times, 

shall  be  one  in  love,  and  strong  in  its  union. To  "  come  up  out 

of  the  land  "  is  the  classic  phrase  for  the  exodus  from  E^ypt,  and 
implies  that  God  will  work  a  like  deliverance  of  his  people  from 
their  bondage,  whatever  the  form  of  that  bondage  may  be.  When 
we  find  a  manifest  historical  allusion,  we  must  accept  it  as  illustra- 
tive, and  not  look  for  a  precisely  literal  fulfilment.  In  the  present 
case,  we  are  not  to  look  for  the  geographical  land,  out  of  which 
they  come  up.     It  is  rather  a  moral  state,  and  no  land  or  country 

whatever. The  "  day  of  Jezreel  "  is  here  the  day  of  the  Lord's 

sowing,  or,  in  our  English  idiom,  planting  His  people— with  refer- 
ence to  the  etymology  of  the  word  Jezreel.  Looking  historically 
to  the  planting  in  Canaan,  under  Joshua,  it  means  that  God  will 
do  a  similar  thing  again.  Great  shall  be  the  day  when  the  Lord 
thus  lays  anew  the  foundations  of  his  Zion,  and  rebuilds  Jerusalem 
— plants  his  people  in  their  new  estate,  and  puts  a  new  face  upon 
his  earthly  kingdom.  It  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  this  plant- 
ing is  the  locating  of  his  ancient  people  in  the  land  of  Canaan. 

Having  now  noted  the  sense  of  the  several  expressions,  it  re- 
mains to  consider  the  meaning  of  the  whole  passage. Here  we 

must  not  fail  to  take  account  of  the  fearful  things  God  had  just 
spoken  against  Israel:  "I  will  cause  to  cease  the  kingdom  of  the 
house  of  Israel;  "  "I  will  break  the  bow  of  Israel; "  "I  will  no 
more  have  mercy  on  the  house  of  Israel,  but  will  utterly  take  them 
away,"  i.  e.,  into  captivity;  "  Ye  are  not  my  people,  and  I  will  not 

be  your  God." All  this  has  the  aspect  of  rejecting  Israel,  utterly 

and  forever. — Yes,  and  the  Israel  of  the  ten  tribes  was  substantially 
rejected.  But  a  new  Israel  comes  up,  a  new  or  at  least  a  modified 
sense  is  given  to  the  word  Israel,  so  that  it  now  means  not  merely 
those  born  of  Jacob,  or  those  who  were  of  the  kingdom  of  the  ten 
tribes,  but  the  real  people  of  God ;  or,  as  the  etymology  of  the 
word  implies,  those  who  have  a  princely  power  with  God  through 


8  HOSEA.— CHAP.  I. 

prayer.  See  Gen.  32 :  28,  and  Hos.  12 :  8,  4.  This  play  on  the 
different  senses  of  a  word,  the  one,  perhaps,  historical,  and  tht 
other  drawn  from  its  etymology,  is  by  no  means  foreign  to  the  style 
of  Hosea.     We  have  seen  it  already  in  the  word  Jezreel. 

The  general  interpretation  here  indicated  involves  great  ques- 
tions and  results,  and  should,  therefore,  be  carefully  stated  and  well 
supported. Let  it,  then,  be  considered, 

(1.)  The  literal  and  old  sense  of  Israel,  in  this  passage,  is  simply 
impossible.  To  hold,  as  some  good  men  have  done,  that  the  ten 
tribes  did  return  in  vast  numbers  with  the  Jews  under  Zerub- 
babel,  their  "  one  head,"  and  that  the  richness  of  this  glorious 
promise  had  its  fulfilment  then,  is  to  struggle  in  vain  against  the 
whole  array  of  authentic  history.  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  have  told 
us  (Ez.  2:1  ff.,  and  JSTeh.  7 :  6  ff.)  how  many  did  return ;  about 
50,000,  all  told.  They  have  shown  us  that  these  were  mostly  of 
the  tribes  of  Judah  and  Levi,  the  lineal  descendants  of  those  who 
belonged  to  that  kingdom,  and  not  to  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes 
(see  Ez.  2 : 1,  and  Eeh.  7 :  6).  Hence  they  leave  no  place  there 
for  the  ten  tribes,  and,  much  more,  no  place  for  a  multitude  of 
them,  like  the  sands  of  the  sea.  And  yet  more,  the  ten  tribes  are 
now  plainly  lost  from  the  view  of  authentic  history,  leaving  no 
ground  to  suppose  they  can  ever  be  discovered  among  the  living 
tribes  of  the  earth.  Therefore  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  this 
prophecy,  if  applied  to  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes,  has  never 
been  fulfilled,  and  never  can  be.  We  are  amply  justified,  therefore, 
in  looking  for  some  other  sense  of  the  word  '■'Israel.'''' 

(2.)  The  construction  above  given,  which  supposes  the  word  to 
be  used  here  for  the  true  people  of  God,  is  in  harmony  with  the 
peculiar  style  of  Hosen,  as  has  been  already  stated. 

(3.)  It  is  abundantly  endorsed  by  the  New  Testament,  (a.)  By 
its  use  of  the  terms  Israel,  Zion,  the  temple,  &c.,  etc.  Thus  Rom. 
0:  G,  "They  are  not  all  Israel  which  arc  of  Israel,"  i.  c,  they  are 
not  all  God's  true  people  avIio  are  lineally  born  of  Israel — a  case, 
therefore,  in  which  we  have  precisely  the  same  new  second  sense 
of  the  word  Israel,  which  is  claimed  for  Hosea  in  this  passage. 
Again,  this  same  apostle  closes  one  epistle — full  of  the  doctrine 
that  "all  who  are  Christ's  are  Abraham's  seed,"  by  invoking 
"  peace  upon  the  Israel  of  God."  So  Mount  Zion  (Heb.  12 :  22)  is 
the  Avhole  Christian  church:  Christians  (2  Cor.  6:1G)  are  God's 
temple. (b.)  This  construction  is  sustained  by  the  whole  doc- 
trine of  the  New  Testament  in  reference  to  the  relation  of  Gentiles 
to  the  church  and  kingdom  of  God.  The  great  battle  of  the  apos- 
tolic age  was  fought  over  this  very  question,  whether  Gentiles  cm/Jd 
come  in  tcith  Jews  as  heirs  of  God's  promises,  and  really  entitled  to 

the  blessings  foretold  in  prophecy  for  Israel. (<?.)     But  more 

particularly,  Paul  (Rom.  9 :  25,  20)  quotes  this  very  passage  from 
Ilosea  to  prove  that  the  "  vessels  of  mercy  "  to  whom  God  "  makes 
known  the  riches  of  his  glory,"  are  "not  of  the  Jews  only  but  also 
of  the  Gentiles."    That  is,  he  assumes  that  in  this  very  passage 


HOSEA.— CHAP.  II.  9 

Hosea  embraces  Gentile  Christians  under  the  name  Israel;  and,  of 
course,  that  it  is  fulfilled  in  the  New  Testament  age,  and  not  exclu- 
sively before — in  the  Gentiles,  and  not  otherwise.  This  ought  to 
be  decisive. 

(4.)  "While  some  of  the  prophets,  e.  </.,  Isaiah,  speak  of  the  Gen- 
tiles by  name  as  coming  into  the  church  and  sharing  in  the  great 
blessings  of  the  latter  days ;  others,  like  Hosea,  predict  the  same 
great  blessings,  but  never  name  the  Gentiles,  and  give  them  no 
share  except  as  they  come  in  under  the  name  Israel.  We  must, 
therefore,  either  say  that  they  rule  out  the  Gentiles  from  the  pale 
of  these  blessings  and  give  them  to  the  lineal  Israel,  and  to  Israel 
only;  or  we  must  admit  that  they  modify  the  sense  of  the  word 
Israel,  and  use  it  to  include  all  the  real  children  of  God  in  the 
latter  days. 

Finally,  we  have  the  great  fact  that  just  at  the  point  where  the 
Israel  of  the  ten  tribes  was  being  cast  off  for  their  hopeless  idolatry 
and  incurable  corruption,  a  larger,  richer  promise  is  made  to  the 
"  children  of  Israel "  than  the  literal  Israel  ever  had  before  or  since, 
or  ever  can  have.  Moveover,  what  time  the  old  Israel  became  lost 
to  history,  a  new  Israel  appears ;  Gentiles  come  into  the  church  of 
God ;  the  world  opens  to  the  mission  of  the  Gospel,  and  lies  at  the 
feet  of  the  Prince  of  Peace :  and  so  his  Israel  becomes  as  the  sand 
of  the  sea;  his  people  are  the  "sons  of  the  living  God;"  old 
antipathies  give  place  to  the  oneness  of  love ;  under  their  one  head, 
they  come  up  from  their  last  house  of  bondage,  and  great  beyond 

all  former  thought  is  "  the  day  of  Jezreel." For  all  this  let  us  sing 

in  words  furnished  to  the  church  for  this  occasion  by  Isaiah  (chap. 
12).  "  O  Lord,  I  will  praise  thee  ;  though  thou  wast  angry  with 
me,  thine  anger  is  turned  away,  and  thou  comfortedst  me.  Behold 
God  is  my  salvation ;  I  will  trust  and  not  be  afraid  ;  for  the  Lord 
Jehovah  is  my  strength  and  my  song;  he  also  is  become  my  sal- 
vation." 


CHAPTEK    II. 

In  this  chapter,  the  Lord  exposes*  and  rebukes  the  sins  of  his 
people,  and  threatens  retribution,  vs.  1-13  ;  then  turns  to  promises 
of  effective  discipline  and  of  restoring  mercy,  vs.  14-23. 

It  is  noticeable  that  throughout  this  chapter,  the  adulterous 
mother,  Israel,  is  spoken  of  in  the  third  person,  and  the  Lord 
declares  what  he  will  do  to  her  in  judgment  and  for  her  in  mercy. 
Piemarkably,  and  as  if  to  give  a  more  impressive  sense  of  her  horrible 
guilt,  her  children  are  introduced— are  apprised  of  the  unnatural 
crime  of  their  mother,  and  are  exhorted  to  plead  with  her  to  put 
away  her  sins.  "What  a  family  scene  must  be  the  reality  presented 
in  this  symbol— the  children  appealing  to  their  mother  to  desist 
from  her  adulterous  life,  and  to  put  an  end  at  once  to  all  its  indi- 
1* 


10  HOSEA.— CHAP.   II. 

cations !  It  is  manifestly  the  purpose  of  God,  in  this  message  by 
Hosea,  to  paint  a  life-scene  of  the  crimes  of  his  covenant  people  in 
their  relations  to  himself. 

1.  Say  unto  your  brethren,  Ammi;  and  to  your 
sisters,  Ruhamah. 

Say  to  your  brethren,  Ammi;  to  your  sisters,  Euhamah. 
Drop  the  negative  particle  from  the  names,  Lo-Ammi,  Lo-Euhamah ; 
sound  the  sweet  words,  "  my  people ;"  "  the  pitied  and  beloved" — as 
if  to  suggest  that  the  heart  of  the  Lord  still  yearns  to  make  them 
again  his  own,  and  to  give  the  freest  flow  to  his  great  and  deep 

compassions. The  persons  exhorted  to  do  this  may  be  supposed 

to  be  the  few  yet  found  faithful  among  the  many  faithless.  The 
Lord  calls  on  them  for  one  more  effort  to  reclaim  the  nation. 

2.  Plead  with  your  mother,  plead ;  for  she  is  not  my 
wife,  neither  am  I  her  husband :  let  her  therefore  put 
away  her  whoredoms  out  of  her  sight,  and  her  adul- 
teries from  between  her  breasts  ; 

3.  Lest  I  strip  her  naked,  and  set  her  as  in  the  clay 
that  she  was  born,  and  make  her  as  a  wilderness,  and 
set  her  like  a  dry  land,  and  slay  her  with  thirst. 

"  Plead  with  your  mother,"  ye  children  of  shame;  go  and  tell 
her  you  cannot  bear  the  disgrace  and  pain  of  her  unnatural  crime ; 
tell  her  that  her  God  disowns  her  as  a  wife,  and  puts  her  away  for 

her  lewd  idolatry.     Such  is  this  strain  of  fiery  rebuke. The  last 

clause  refers  to  the  incitements  to  lewdness  common  with  bad 
women.  "  Out  of  her  sight,"  should  read,  "  from  her  face,"  cor- 
responding to  "  from  her  breasts  "  in  the  parallel  member  of  the 
sentence.  The  original  has  the  same  form  of  expression  in  each 
case.  The  face  and  the  bosom  are  alike  used  for  incitement  to 
lewd  passion; — paint,  ornament,  and  lascivious  expression  in  the 
one;  exposure  of  person  in  the  other.  In  the  spiritual  application, 
God  frowns  upon  and  would  put  away  every  form  of  inducement 
to  idolatry  in  Israel ;  every  thing  that  in  any  age  naturally  tempts 
his  people  to  sin. 

4.  And  I  will  not  have  mercy  upon  her  children ; 
for  they  he  the  children  of  whoredoms. 

Closely  following  out  the  symbol,  the  Lord  appeals  to  the  heart 
of  the  mother,  as  if  he  would  say :  Though  you  have  lost  all  sensi- 
bility to  your  own  welfare,  yet  think  of  your  children.  I  will  not 
have  mercy  on  them ;  your  unnatural  crime  comes  down  on  them 
with  perpetual  curses.    Can  a  mother's  heart  resist  such  an  appeal  ? 

5.  For  their  mother  hath  played  the  harlot :  she  that 
conceived  them  hath  clone  shamefully:  for  she  said,  I 


HOSEA.— CHAP.  II.  11 

will  go  after  my  lovers,"  that  give  me  my  bread  and  my 
water,  my  wool  and  my  flax,  mine  oil  and  my  drink. 

The  adulterous  mother  is  here  seen,  going  after  her  infamous 
paramours— as  one  who  lives  on  the  wages  of  her  shameless  crime. 
This  is  turning  over  and  over  the  leading  symbol,  to  put  m still 
new  light  the  shameful  sins  of  the  chosen  people  against  their  God, 
and  to  show  why  he  ought  to  and  must  visit  them  with  terrible  retri- 
bution.  The  fifth  and  sixth  verses  stand  related  as  cause  and 

result :  "  Because  their  mother  hath  committed  lewdness,"  "  there- 
fore will  I  hedge  up  her  way,"  &c. 

6.  Therefore,  behold,  I  will  hedge  up  thy  way  with 
thorns,  and  make  a  wall,  that  she  shall  not  find  her 
paths. 

7.  And  she  shall  follow  after  her  lovers,  but  she 
shall  not  overtake  them ;  and  she  shall  seek  them,  but 
shall  not  find  them :  then  shall  she  say,  I  will  go  and 
return  to  my  first  husband ;  lor  then  was  it  better  with 
me  than  now. 

God  will  trouble  her  in  every  way ;  she  shall  follow  hard  (so 
the  original)  after  her  lovers  for  help,  but  in  vain,  till  affliction  and 
want  bring  her  back  to  reason  and  to  her  forsaken  God. 

8.  For  she  did  not  know  that  I  gave  her  corii,  and 
wine,  .and  oil,  and  multiplied  her  silver  and  gold,  which 
they  prepared  for  Baal. 

9.  Therefore  will  I  return,  and  take  away  my  corn 
in  the  time  thereof,  and  my  wine  in  the  season  thereof, 
and  will  recover  my  wool  and  my  flax  given  to  cover 
her  nakedness. 

Ys.  8  and  9  are  correlated  thus :  "  Because  she  did  not  know,"  &c, 

"  therefore  will  I  take  away,"  &c. "  Did  not  know  that  /gave  her  " 

all,  where  the  original  makes  the  pronoun  I"  emphatic. God  mul- 
tiplied to  Israel  silver  and  gold,  which  they  wrought  into  images  of 
Baal.  This  is  one  point  of  aggravation  in  all  sin.  Men  take  the 
gifts  of  God  and  pervert  them  into  means  of  sinning  the  more 
against  him  ;  work  them  into  idols  to  worship  instead  of  Jehovah. 

Baal  was  one  of  the  most  ancient  of  the  gods  worshipped  in 

the  East.  He  is  supposed  by  many  to  represent  the  sun  ;  by  others, 
the  planet  Jupiter,  as  the  almoner  of  good  fortune.  He  was  wor- 
shipped by  the  people  of  Phoenicia  and  Tyre,  and  from  them,  at  a 
very  early  age,  and  in  the  reign  of  Ahab  especially,  his  worship 
passed  over  to  the  Jews. 

10.  And  now  will  I  discover  her  lewdness  in  the 


12  EOSEA.— CHAP.  II. 

sight  of  her  lovers,  and  none  shall  deliver  her  out  of 
mine  hand. 

"  Discover,"  in  the  sense  of  expose  her  nakedness  before  her 
lovers — terribly  significant  of  the  fearful  judgments  God  knows 
how  to  send  on  his  apostate  people  ! 

11.  I  will  also  cause  all  her  mirth  to  cease,  her  feast 
days,  her  new  moons,  and  her  sabbaths,  and  all  hei 
solemn  feasts. 

These  were  seasons  of  special  joy  to  the  Hebrew  people,  and 
stand  here  to  represent  all  joy. 

12.  And  I  will  destroy  her  vines  and  her  fig-trees, 
whereof  she  hath  said,  These  are  my  rewards  that  my 
lovers  have  given  me :  and  I  will  make  them  a  forest, 
and  the  beasts  of  the  field  shall  eat  them. 

The  heathen  regarded  their  idol  gods  as  the  givers  of  their  vines 
and  fig-trees.  Israel  says  the  same  thing.  Those  idol  gods  are  hei 
lovers,  to  whom,  in  her  spiritual  adultery,  she  gives  her  heart  and 
her  confidence. 

13.  And  I  will  visit  upon  her  the  days  of  Baalim, 
wherein  she  burned  incense  to  them,  and  she  decked 
herself  with  her  ear-rings  and  her  jewels,  and  she  went 
after  her  lovers,  and  forgat  me,  saith  the  Lord. 

This  strain  of  rebuke  and  threatening  culminates  with  the 
general  declaration — "  1  will  visit  upon  her  for  the  guilt  of  her  days 
of  Baal  worship."  "  Baalim,"  in  the  plural,  refers  to  the  numerous 
images  of  Baal,  or  as  others  hold  plausibly,  to  the  diverse  modes 
of  his  manifestation.  "Decking  herself  with  ear-rings  and  jewels, 
and  going  after  her  lovers,"  carries  out  the  symbol — a  harlot, 
plying  all  the  Bhameless  arts  of  a  common  prostitute. 

11.  Therefore,  behold,  I  will  allure  her,  and  bring 
her  into  the  wilderness,  and  speak  comfortably  unto 
her. 

This  verse  is,  for  the  chapter,  the  transition  point  between 
rebuke  and  threatened  retribution  for  the  sins  of  idol  worship  on 
the  one  hand,  and  promises  of  effective  discipline  and  of  restoring 

mercy  on  the  other. " Behold"  calls  special  attention  to  the 

great  things  God  now  proposes  to  do. "  Therefore,"  reminds  us 

to  ask  why  ?  What  is  the  reason  for  the  promises  of  good  that  fol- 
low?  Some  have  found  a  difficulty  here,  inasmuch  as  the  griev- 
ous sins  of  Israel  seem  to  be  no  natural  reason  for  giving  the  bless- 
ings hereafter  promised. But  the  reasons,  viewed  fundament- 
ally, lie  deeper  than  the  sins  of  Israel,  even  in  God's  covenant  love 


HOSEA.— CIIAP.  II.  "13 

and  faithfulness.  Ho  cannot  bear  that  his  own  Israel  should  sink 
hopelessly  under  her  sins  into  ruin.     Therefore  his  pity  moves  him 

to  discipline  and  to  mercy. "  Will  allure  her  " — in  a  good  sense ; 

persuade  her,  draw  her  by  the  sweet  attractions  of  love. 

This  "bringing  her  into  the  wilderness,"  Dr.  Henderson,  fol- 
lowing his  principles*  of  literal  interpretation,  finds  fulfilled  in 
God's  taking  the  whole  Hebrew  people  into  captivity  to  Babylon 
and  Assyria.  Apparently  he  fails  to  notice  that  they  were  driven 
not  drawn  thither,  and  also  that  neither  Babylon  nor  Assyria  are 

known  in  Scripture  as  "  the  wilderness." Dismissing,  therefore, 

this  literal  view  of  the  language,  I  prefer  to  assume  an  historical  allu- 
sion to  the  exodus  from  Egypt.  God  means — "  I  will  do  to  Israel 
again  what  I  did  when  I  took  them  by  the  hand  and  led  them  out 
of  the  house  of  bondage,  and  out  of  the  land  of  idol  gods,  into  the 
wilderness,  and  there  spake  to  them  face  to  face " — spake  most 
effectively  "  to  their  heart"  as  the  last  clause  reads  in  the  original. 
We  may  fitly  recall  the  fact  that  this  wilderness-life  was  to  the 
Hebrew  people  a  great  and  most  effective  theatre  of  moral  disci- 
pline. No  generation  in  all  their  history  was  so  true  to  God  or  so 
much  beloved  of  him  as  that  which  had  its  training  in  the  wilder- 
ness, and  went  in  under  Joshua  to  the  land  of  Canaan.     God  hero 

promises  to  do  a  like  thing  to  his  covenant  people  again. With 

allusion  probably  to  this  passage,  yet  amplifying  it,  Ezekiel  (20  :  35, 
36)  says :  u  And  I  will  bring  you  into  the  wilderness  of  the  people, 
and  there  will  I  plead  with  you  face  to  face.  Like  as  I  pleaded 
with  your  fathers  in  the  wilderness  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  so  will  I 
plead  with  you,  saith  the  Lord."  This  confirms  the  idea  of  an 
historical  allusion  to  the  scenes  of  the  exodus. 

15.  And  I  will  give  her  her  vineyards  from  thence, 
and  the  valley  of  Achor  for  a  door  of  hope :  and  she 
shall  sing  there,  as  in  the  days  of  her  youth,  and  as  in 
the  day  when  she  came  np  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt. 

"From  thence" — from  such  a  scene  of  moral  discipline,  God 
will  give  her  her  vineyards — with  historical  reference  to  the  grapes 
of  Eshcol,  which  ancient  Israel  found  on  entering  Canaan.  Bless- 
ings come  after,  and  out  of,  efficient  moral  discipline. "  The 

valley  of  Achor  "is  still  another  historical  allusion.  The  word 
Achor  means  by  its  etymology,  trouble:  in  history  it  was  the  place 
of  trouble  to  Achan.      See  Josh.  7 :  24-26.      So  the  troubles  of 

Israel  shall  be  her  "  door  of  hope." u  And  she  shall  sing  there  " 

— with  declared  reference  to  the  joy  of  the  Hebrews  when,  led  by 
Moses   and  Miriam,  they  sang  songs  of  deliverance  on  the  hither 

side  of  the  Red  Sea. So  joy  comes  from  sanctified   sorrow. 

Moral  discipline  that  really  turns  the  heart  from  sin  to  God,  is 
evermore  a  well-spring  of  blessings. 

16.  And  it  shall  he  at  that  day,  saith  the  Loud,  that 


14  HOSEA.— CHAP.  II. 

thou  shalt  call  me  Ishi ;  and  shalt  call  me  no  more 


17.  For  I  will  take  away  the  names  of  Baalim  out  of 
her  mouth,  and  they  shall  no  more  be  remembered  by 
their  name. 

The  true  arid  full  sense  of  these  verses  is  seen  in  the  fact  that 
" Ishi,"  my  man,  and  " BaaM"  rny  lord,  were  both  sometimes  used 
to  mean  my  husband.  But  the  word  Baal  had  become  so  dangerously 
associated  with  idol  worship  that  Jehovah  forbade  the  use  of  it, 
even  to  express  an  innocent  relation.  So  there  is  sound  wisdom  in 
forestalling  all  those  temptations  which  steal  upon  us  under  the 
laws  of  mental  association.  God  would  take  away  from  us  every 
thing  that  may  work,  through  the  power  of  those  laws  of  thought, 
to  beguile  us  into  sin. 

18.  And  in  that  day  will  I  make  a  covenant  for 
them  with  the  beasts  of  the  field,  and  with  the  fowls  of 
heaven,  and  with  the  creeping  things  of  the  ground : 
and  I  will  break  the  bow  and  the  sword  and  the  battle 
out  of  the  earth,  and  will  make  them  to  lie  down  safely. 

This  covenant  which  God  makes  with  the  lower  animals,  debars 
them  from  harming  his  people.  I  find  here  an  allusion  to  vs.  12, 
where  God  gives  the  beasts  of  the  field  license  to  devour  the  vines 
and  fig-trees  of  his  sinning  people.  This  covenant  recalls  that 
license,  and  even  lays  them  under  bond  to  spare  to  God's  penitent 
people  the  fruits  of  the  earth.  Sense :  God's  providence  becomes 
their  shield  and  refuge. 

19.  And  I  will  betroth  thee  unto  me  for  ever  ;  yea, 
I  will  betroth  thee  unto  me  in  righteousness,  and  in 
judgment,  and  hi  loving-kindness,  and  in  mercies. 

20.  I  will  even  betroth  thee  unto  me  in  faithfulness : 
and  thou  shalt  know  the  Lokd. 

This  betrothal  assumes  that  her  long-persistent  adulteries  had 
ended  in  divorce.  Now  the  marriage  covenant  is  renewed — renew- 
ed "forever;"  renewed  "in  righteousness,  in  judgment,  in  loving- 
kindness,  and  in  great  mercy ;  "  where  the  reiteration  is  intended 
to  heighten  the  sense  of  God's  great  love  in  this?  transaction.  Re- 
markably, it  culminates  in  faithfulness  ;  as  if  to  say,  This  covenant 

must  stand,  and  be  broken  no  more. "  Thou  shalt  know  the 

Lord,"  is  one  of  the  most  expressive  phrases  possible  to  human 
language,  implying  to  know  God  in  all  the  great  elements  of  his 
character,  and  in  all  the  experiences  of  his  spiritual  power;  to 
know  with  a  knowledge  other  and  better  far  than  theory ;  to  know 
with  the  heart  brought  fully  under  the  power  of  Jehovah's  presence 
and  love. 


HOSEA.— CHAT.  II.  15 

21.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  I  will 
hear,  saith  the  Lord,  I  will  hear  the  heavens,  and  they 
shall  hear  the  earth  ; 

22.  And  the  earth  shall  hear  the  corn,  and  the  wine, 
and  the  oil ;  and  they  shall  hear  Jezreel. 

This  extraordinary  passage  means,  comprehensively,  that  God 
will  hear  the  prayer  of  his  people  for  the  earthly  good  they  may 
need  and  shall  ask  of  him.  The  manner  of  saying  this  gives  us 
what  we  may  call  a  circle  of  prayer.  "Hearing,"  means  hearing 
and  answering  the  requests  made.  "Jezreel"  stands  here  .for  the 
people  whom  God  plants  in  the  land.  Hence,  the  form  of  the 
thought  is :  This  people  call  for  corn  and  wine  and  oil,  and  in  a 
sense  cry  unto  these  things,  and  are  heard  and  answered :  the  corn 
and  wine  cry  to  the  earth  ;  the  earth  to  the  heavens ;  and  the  heavens 
to  God.  God  hears  the  heavens  ;  the  heavens  hear  the  earth  ;  the 
earth  hears  the  corn,  and  the  corn  hears  the  people  whom  God 
plants  in  the  land.  The  agencies  of  providence  that  lie  between 
God  and  his  praying  people,  which  must  be  all  put  in  operation  in 
order  to  give  them  corn  and  wine,  are  beautifully  put  into  the  links 
of  this  chain  of  prayer. 

23.  And  I  will  sow  her  nnto  me  in  the  earth ;  and  I 
will  have  mercy  upon  her  that  had  not  obtained  mercy ; 
and  I  will  say  to  them  which  were  not  my  people,  Thou 
art  my  people  ;  and  they  shall  say,  Thou  art  my  God. 

"  I  will  sow  her  unto  me,"  still  keeps  up  the  sense  of  the  word 
"  Jezreel."  "  Unto  me"  shows  that  this  planting  of  God's  people 
shall  be  for  himself  and  not  for  another;  no  more  for  Baal.  "In 
the  earth,"  might  have  been  as  well  expressed  by  "in  the  land," 
the  allusion  being  to  the  fact  that  of  old  God  had  given  to  his  peo- 
ple a  land,  specially  their  own  by  covenant  promise. 1  will  now 

and  onward  have  mercy  on  her  who  was  rejected  from  my  mercy, 
bearing  the  name  Xc-Kuhamah  :  I  will  say  to  Lo-Ammi,  Thou  art 
Ammi — beautifully  expunging  the  negative ;  and  he  [my  people] 

shall  say,  My  God! This  is  the  concise,  yet  strongly  expressive 

form  of  the  original. 

Thus  closes  this  richly  instructive  passage.  Its  whole  strain  is 
one  glorious  testimony  that  our  God,  in  the  midst  of  wrath,  remem- 
bers mercy. 


10  HOSEA.— CHAP.  III. 


CHAPTER    III. 

Tnis  short  chapter  embraces  one  theme  only — the  prophet's 
relation  to  a  wife— adduced  as  the  occasion  of  a  remarkable  proph- 
ecy of  the  future  of  the  Jewish  people. 

1.  Then  said  the  Lokd  unto  me,  Go  yet,  love  a  woman 
beloved  of  her  friend,  yet  an  adulteress,  according  to  the 
love  of  the  Lord  toward  the  children  of  Israel,  who  look 
to  other  gods,  and  love  flagons  of  wine. 

A  question  arises  here,  rather  curious  than  vital  to  the  general 
sense  of  the  chapter — whether  this  woman  was  or  was  not  Gomer, 

the  wife  brought  to  our  knowledge  in  the  first  chapter. On  the 

supposition  that  she  was  the  same,  it  seems  somewhat  remarkable 
that  the  statements  are  so  indefinite,  with  no  clear  allusions  to  the 
Gomer  before  introduced;  yet,  despite  of  this  difficulty,  the  evi- 
dence preponderates  in  favor  of  then-  identity.  The  Lord  here 
says,  "Go,  love,"  not  take  a  woman;  the  latter  being  the  usual 
formula  for  entering  the  first  time  into  the  marriage  relation.  He 
says  simply  "a  woman,"  not  "tby  wife;"  indicating  a  state  of 
separation  and  semi-divorce,  such  as  would  naturally  result  from 
the  lewdness  of  Gomer.  She  is  further  described  as  "beloved  of 
a  friend"  as  the  original  has  it  (not  "  her  "  friend),  a  sort  of  free- 
love  relationship,  and  yet  an  adulteress  ;  and,  of  course,  not  living 
with  this  friend  in  lawful  wedlock.  A  further  point  in  the  descrip- 
tion is,  that  this  case  corresponds  to  the  love  of  the  Lord  toward 
the  children  of  Israel,  who  look  (in  the  Heb.  tarn)  to  other  gods. 
Inasmuch  as  this  is  part  of  the  description  of  this  woman,  it  should 
be  allowed  the  more  weight  in  identifying  her.  Its  whole  force 
goes  to  show  that  she  was  Gomer,  since  it  was  the  same  Israel 
with  whom  the  Lord  had  been  in  covenant,  to  whom  be  now 
returns  in  his  great  loving-kindness  And  this  is  the  very  point 
made  in  this  chapter.     This  main  feature,  therefore,  forbids  us  to 

think  here  of  any  other  woman  than  Gomer. Our  translation 

renders  the  last  word  of  this  verse,  "flagons  of  wine."  Modern 
scholars  agree  in  rendering  the  Hebrew  word  grape-calces ;  i.  e.} 
grapes  dried  and  pressed  into  the  form  of  cakes.  They  were  cus- 
tomarily offered  in  the  worship  of  idols,  and  then  eaten  by  the 
worshippers.  Another  instance  of  the  general  policy  of  making 
idol-worship  every  way  attractive  to  the  senses  and  animal  ap- 
petites. 

2.  So  I  bought  her  to  nie  for  fifteen  pieces  of  silver, 
und  for  an  homer  of  barley,  and  an  half  homer  of  barley. 

It  was  common  among  the  Jews,  indeed  it  is  in  all  the  East,  to 


ROSEA.— CHAP.  III.  17 

thi3  day,  to  buy  a  wife.  Whether  the  price  named  here  was  the 
standard  one  is  of  no  special  importance;  if  it  were,  our  means  of 
fixing  the  value  of  a  "piece  of  silver"  are  very  imperfect.     The 

amount  of  barley  was  about  fourteen  bushels. This  buying  does 

not  necessarily  forbid  the  supposition  that  she  had  been  his  wife 
before.  It  does  imply  that  she  had  forfeited  that  relation,  and 
could  properly  return  only  as  one  justly  divorced.  To  show  this 
seems  to  be  the  chief  or  sole  intent  in  this  second  verse. 

3.  And  I  said  unto  her,  Thou  shalt  abide  for  me 
many  days ;  thou  shalt  not  play  the  harlot,  and  thou 
shalt  not  be  for  another  man  :  so  will  I  also  he  for  thee. 

The  prophet  implores  her  to  desist  from  her  former  crimes. 
Probably  the  true  sense  of  the  verse  is  better  given  by  omitting  the 
word  "  another"  which  has  nothing  to  correspond  to  it  in  the  He- 
brew. "  Thou  shalt  not  bo  for  man  " — any  man ; — the  special  point 
being  to  represent  a  state  of  Israel  described  in  the  next  verse  as 
without  any  worship  of  either  the  true  God  or  idols. 

4.  For  the  children  of  Israel  shall  abide  many  days 
without  a  king,  and  without  a  prince,  and  without  a 
sacrifice,  and  without  an  image,  and  without  an  ephod, 
and  without  teraphim : 

5.  Afterward  shall  the  children  of  Israel  return,  and 
seek  the  Lord  their  God,  and  David  their  king;  and 
shall  fear  the  Lord  and  his  goodness  in  the  latter  days. 

Here  is  an  exceedingly  interesting  prophecy,  to  the  effect  that 
the  children  of  Israel  shall  remain  a  long  time  without  king  or 
prince,  without  sacrifice,  images,  or  any  insignia  of  worship,  wheth- 
er true  or  false,  required  or  forbidden.  Images  and  teraphim 
(household  gods)  must  be  put  in  the  latter  class.     The  ephod  was 

the  outer  robe  of  the  high  priest. Cured  of  idolatry,  yet  not 

converted  to  the  worship  of  the  true  God,  they  were  to  remain 
long  in  this  peculiar,  extraordinary  state.  Considering  how  strong 
their  national  passion  has  been  to  have  a  king  and  some  established 
ceremonials  of  worship,  either  divine  or  idolatrous,  this  prophecy  is 
surely  such  as  no  human  sagacity  could  or  would  have  made.  Yet, 
ever  since  their  own  Messiah  came  in  the  flesh,  or,  more  definitely, 
since  the  fall  of  their  city  under  the  Roman  arms  (a.  d.  70),  this 

has  been  precisely  their  condition. ■"  Afterwards  " — somewhere 

in  the  times  yet  future — "  they  shall  return  and  seek  the  Lord  their 
God  and  David  their  king."  Hosea  is  not  alone  in  giving  to  Da- 
vid's greater  Son  the  name  David.  Jeremiah  (30  :  9)  says — "They 
shall  serve  the  Lord  their  God  and  David  their  king,  whom  I  will 
raise  up  to  them."  Ezekiel  likewise  (34:23,  24,  and  37:24,  25). 
David,  considered  as  king,  was  a  special  type  of  the  Messiah,  so 
that  the  transfer  of  his  name  to  the  latter  is  natural. To  "  fear 


18  HOSEA.— CHAP.  III. 

the  Lord  "  is  the  current  phrase  of  the  Old  Testament  for  real  piety 
— naturally  so  under  a  dispensation  of  "  law  as  a  schoolmaster." 
In  this  passage,  the  Hebrew  verb  which  means,  primarily,  to  fear, 
is  followed  by  a  preposition,  meaning  toward  or  iinto,  showing  that 
this  fear  does  not  repel  away  from  God,  but  rather  draws  toward 
him.  The  precise  sense  seems  to  be — to  draw  near  to  God  in  rev- 
erential fear  and  trust. This  view  is  confirmed  by  the  addition  of 

the  word  goodness,  which  cannot  be  a  thing  for  Christians  to  fear, 
in  the  usual  sense  of  this  word.     On  the  contrary,  it  draws  them 

very  near  to  his  feet  in  the  spirit  of  filial  confidence  and  hope. 

In  this  spirit  the  children  of  Israel  shall  seek  and  approach  the  Lord 
"  in  the  latter  days.1'  The  time  here  designated  can  be  no  other 
in  this  case  than  the  Gospel  age.     The  phrase,  "  latter  days,"  almost 

invariably  has  this  sense. The  phrase,  "  the  children  of  Israel," 

can  have  no  special  reference  here  to  the  ten  tribes,  but  rather 
comprises  all  the  Hebrew  people,  without  distinction  between  Israel 
and  Judah. — The  ultimate  conversion  of  the  Jews  is,  therefore, 
distinctly  foretold  in  this  passage.  It  must  come  to  pass  in  the 
latter  days.  It  has  not  been  yet,  and  therefore  waits  its  fulfilment 
in  the  future. 

It  may  be  asked — ^Vhy  interpret  chapter  iii.  throughout,  of  the 
lineal  Hebrew  race,  and  not  chapter  i.  likewise? 

Ans.  (1.)  Chapter  iii.  bears  this  interpretation — has  received, 
and  is  yet  receiving  a  most  striking  fulfilment  on  this  principle. 
Not  this,  but  its  opposite,  is  true  of  chapter  i.  It  cannot  be  inter- 
preted throughout  of  the  lineal  children  of  Israel.  The  facts  of 
history  forbid  it. 

(2.)  Chapter  iii.  demands  this  construction.  The  entire  scope 
of  the  chapter,  so  far  as  it  is  prediction,  gives  us  precisely  the 
anomalous  condition  of  the  Hebrew  race,  from  the  fall  of  Jerusa- 
lem down  to  their  ultimate   conversion;    nothing  more,  nothing 

else. On  the  contrary,  in  chapter  i.  there  is  no  close  connection 

of  thought,  holding  the  interpreter  to  the  people  of  the  ten  tribes, 
or  even  to  the  lineal  Hebrews.  The  last  two  verses  may  be  applied 
without  violence  to  a  new  and  other  Israel. 

(3.)  In  general,  the  construction  given  to  chapter  i. :  10,  11  is 
justified,  on  its  own  proper  grounds,  to  be  determined  in  view  of 
what  it  is,  and  of  its  relations  to  history  and  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
New  Testament.    So  of  the  construction  given  above  to  chapter  iii. 

It  must  be  interpreted  in  view  of  what  it  is. Such  I  hold  to  be 

the  true  theory  of  interpreting  all  prophecy. 


HOSEA.— CHAP.  IV.  19 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Tiie  Lord  sets  forth  the  great  sin  of  the  people ;  charges  it 
largely  to  the  account  of  the  priests,  whose  flagrant  neglects  of  duty- 
he  exposes  and  denounces,  vs.  1-11 ;  show*  that  idolatry  is  fol- 
ly, v.  12,  and  hegets  licentiousness,  vs.  13, 14.  He  solemnly  warns 
Judah  to  avoid  the  sin  and  doom  of  Ephraim,  vs.  15-19. 

1.  Hear  the  word  of  the  Lord,  ye  children  of  Is- 
rael :  for  the  Loud  hath  a  controversy  with  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  land,  because  there  is  no  trnth,  nor  mercy, 
nor  knowledge  of  God  in  the  land. 

The  word  rendered  "  controversy  "  often  means  an  occasion  for 
civil  process  in  law — a  case  of  crime  so  aggravated  that  it  should 

come  before  the  judges. The  word  which,  applied  to  God,  is  so 

well  rendered  mercy,  might  better,  when  applied  to  man,  be  ren- 
dered kindness,  inasmuch  as  real  mercy — the  richest  favors  shown 
to  the  utterly  vile  and  guilty — though  found  abundantly  in  God, 
can  scarcely  be  predicated  at  all  of  men.     Hence,  kindness  is,  in 

this  passage,  the  better  rendering. The  Lord  can  have  no  peace 

with  any  people  who  misuse  and  abuse  one  another — truthless,  un- 
kind, and  discarding  the  knowledge  and  claims  of  their  God. 

2.  By  swearing,  and  lying,  and  killing,  and  stealing, 
and  committing  adultery,  they  break  out,  and  blood 
toucheth  blood. 

The  Hebrew  of  this  verse  is  a  model  of  brevity  and  force — its 
infinitives  absolute,  standing  naked,  and  as  compact  as  possible. — : — 
"  Swearing,  lying,  murdering,  stealing,  committing  adultery  " — they 
are  outbreaking  in  all.      Scorning  restraint,  they  break  over    all 

bounds. "Blood  toucheth  blood  "  in  the  strong  sense  that  the 

streams  from  the  first  murdered  man  meet  and  mingle  with  the 
streams  from  the  second,  and  scarcely  can  there  be  found  a  spot 
clean  of  the  gore  of  murder. 

3.  Therefore  shall  the  land  mourn,  and  every  one 
that  dwelleth  therein  shall  languish,  with  the  beasts  of 
the  field,  and  with  the  fowls  of  heaven ;  yea,  the  fishes 
of  the  sea  also  shall  be  taken  away. 

Under  such  wickedness  the  whole  land  suffers ;  society  is  para- 
lyzed ;  even  beasts,  fowls,  and  fishes  sympathize  and  suffer  under 
the  general  affliction. 

4.  Yet  let  no  man  strive,  nor  reprove  another;  for 
thy  people  are  as  they  that  strive  with  the  priest. 


20  HOSEA.— CHAP.  IV. 

Worst  of  all  is  the  hopeless  moral  infatuation  of  the  people.  It 
is  all  in  vain  for  one  man  to  reprove  another  for  sin.  The  people 
are  like  him  ■who  resists  the  judicial  decisions  given  "by  the  priest 
acting  as  judge,  under  God.  Of  him  the  lav/  of  Moses  said  (Deut. 
17 :  12),  "  The  man  that  will  do  presumptuously,  and  will  not 
hearken  unto  the  priest  that  standeth  to  minister  there  before  the 
Lord  thy  God,  or  unto  the  judge,  even  that  man  shall  die,  and  thou 

shalt  put  away  the  evil  from  Israel." This  sin  is  referred  to  as 

the  height  of  defiant  hardihood  against  God.  Such  were  the  peo- 
ple of  Israel  at  this  time. 

5.  Therefore,  slialt  thou  fall  in  the  day,  and  the 
prophet  also  shall  fall  with  thee  in  the  night,  and  I  will 
destroy  thy  mother. 

This  abrupt  change  of  person  to  direct  address  is  for  the  sake 
of  greater  force.      "  Thou  " — the  people — "  shalt  fall,"  by  awful 

judgments  from  God. "The  prophet"  here  is  the  false  prophet 

who  had  misguided  and  deluded  the  people,  and  must  perish  with 

them. No  special  stress  should  be  given  to  his  falling  by  night, 

and  the  people  by  day.  Judgments  fall  thick ;  life  is  no  longer  sa- 
cred ;  men  are  dying  day  and  night. "  Thy  mother  "  is  either 

the  capital,  the  mother  city,  or  the  state,  involving  the  nationality; 
probably,  in  this  case,  the  latter.     The  nation  was,  in  fact,  utterly 

destroyed  very  soon. The  Hebrew  word  "  destroy  "  carries  here 

the  strong  idea — brought  to  perpetual  silence. 

6.  My  people  are  destroyed  for  lack  of  knowledge :  be- 
cause thou  hast  rejected  knowledge,  I  will  also  reject  thee, 
that  thou  shalt  he  no  priest  to  me  :  seeing  thou  hast  for- 
gotten the  law  of  thy  God,  I  will  also  forget  thy  children. 

From  this  doom  the  knowledge  of  God,  exerting  its  legitimate 
influence,  would  have  saved  them — a  glorious  but  just  testimony  to 
the  value  of  this  knowledge  in  sustaining  the  vital  life  of  society. 

Again  the  prophet  accosts  the  priests  directly,  as  if  they  stood 

in  his  eye,  and  fearlessly  says,  "  Thou  art  the  man  !  "  "  Because  thou 
hast  rejected  knowledge,  I  have  rejected  thee  from  being  a  priest  for 
me ;  thou  hast  forgotten  the  law  of  thy  God ;  I,  even  I,  will  forget 

thy  children." God's  forgetting  their  children  means  more  than 

it  expresses.  For  God  to  forget  to  protect  and  bless  is  to  give  up 
to  un mingled  curses.  The  turn  given  in  this  language  is  fearfully 
significant  of  retribution. The  Hebrew  makes  God's  agency  em- 
phatic :  "  I,  yea,  /,  will  forget  thy  children." 

7.  As  they  were  increased,  so  they  sinned  against 
me  :  therefore  will  I  change  their  glory  into  shame. 

"  They  "  refers  to  the  priests.  The  "  increase  "  might  be  either 
in  numbers  or  in  wealth  and  honor  ;  probably  not  either  alone,  but 
all.     The  more  they  prospered,  by  so  much  the  more  they  sinned 


HOSEA.— CHAP.   IV.  21 

against  God.  Hence  he  would  convert  their  glory  into  disgrace. 
The  desolations  of  war  and  captivity  soon  fulfilled  this  threatening. 

8.  They  eat  up  the  sin  of  my  people,  and  they  set 
their  heart  on  their  iniquity. 

By  "sin,"  in  this  passage,  some  suppose  the  sin-offerings  of  the 
Mosaic  law  to  he  meant,  and  eating  them  to  he  the  sin  committed 

hy  the  sons  of  Eli.     See  1  Sam.  2  :  12-17. The  usual  sense  of 

the  word  is,  however,  preferable,  and  is  fully  sustained  hy  the 
parallel  clause,  which  is,  literally,  "They  lift  up  their  soul  to  their 
iniquity ;  "  i.  e.,  they  are  interested  and  pleasurahly  excited  hy  the 
sins  of  the  people.  They  cat  them,  in  the  sense  of  enjoying  them 
as  hungry  men  enjoy  a  feast.- — How  horribly  corrupt  these 
priests  must  have  been !     So  far  gone  in  sin  that  they  loved  to  have 

all  the  people  sin! The  Hebrew  verbs  rendered  ueat  vp"  and 

"  set  "  are  future,  implying  not  only  that  they  have  done,  but  will 
yet  do  this ;  are  committed,  past  reclaim,  to  these  sins. 

9.  And  there  shall  be,  like  people,  like  priest :  and 
I  will  punish  them  for  their  ways,  and  reward  them 
their  doings. 

No  wonder  God  has  judgments  in  store  for  them,  from  which 

their  superior  dignity  and  rank  shall  by  no  means  shield  them. 

Such  is  the  import  of  this  verse.  As  the  people  were  doomed  to 
desolating  judgments,  so  also  are  the  priests.  Their  office  shall  not 
conduct  the  lightnings  of  Jehovah's  wrath  away  from  their  heads, 
but  rather  down  upon  them. 

10.  For  they  shall  eat,  and  not  have  enough :  they 
shall  commit  whoredom,  and  shall  not  increase :  because 
they  have  left  off  to  take  heed  to  the  Loud. 

Resuming  from  v.  8  their  eating  the  sins  of  the  people,  God 
now  declares — They  shall  eat,  but  shall  get  no  good  of  it ;  this 
being  the  sense  of  the  words  rendered  "not  have  enough;  "  liter- 
ally, "  shall  not  be  satisfied." 

Adulterous  life  gives  no  increase  of  family — the  natural  conse- 
quences being  the  opposite  of  this.     Barrenness  was  accounted  one 

of  the  greatest  calamities. These  sins  are  due  to  the  fact  that 

they  have  ceased  to  honor  and  fear  Jehovah. 

11.  Whoredom  and  wine  and  new  wine  take  away 
the  heart. 

This  verse  is  a  grand  moral  adage — an  axiom  in  the  philosophy 

of  human  life. The  u  heart "  in.  Hebrew  usage,  is  sometimes 

wise  and  understanding,  in  reference  to  the  intellectual  faculties, 
and  sometimes  includes  the  moral  purposes  of  the  soul,  as  when 

God  is  said  to  be  served  with  the  whole  heart. "  Taking  away 

the  heart,"  therefore,  is  robbing  a  man  of  his  good  sense,  his  moral 
stamina — of  all  that  makes  his  manhood  of  any  account.    After 


22  HOSEA.— CHAP.  IV. 

whoredom  and  wine  have  done  their  work  upon  Mm,  he  is  practi- 
cally more  brutish  than  rational  and  human.  Hosea  has  a  similar 
use  of  the  word  "heart "  (7  :  11):  "Ephraim  is  like  a  silly  dove 
without  lieart " — lacking  even  natural  sagacity  to  avoid  the  snare. 

12.  My  people  ask  counsel  at  their  stocks,  and  their 
staff  declareth  nnto  them :  for  the  spirit  of  whoredoms 
hath,  caused  them  to  err,  and  they  have  gone  a  whoring 
from  nnder  their  God. 

As  if  to  prove  how  utterly  whoredom  and  wine  have  robbed 
the  people  of  their  good  sense,  the  Lord  adduces  their  confidence 
in  idol  gods.  u  My  people" — who  ought  to  ask  counsel  of  me — 
"ask  counsel  of  their  sticks  of  wood" — a  justly  contemptuous 
name  for  a  wooden  god;  "  and  their  staif " — a  divining  rod,  makes 

revelations  to  them  as  an  oracle. This  divining  rod  has  been 

common  among  the  miserable  superstitions  of  heathenism,  and  is 

not  unknown  in  nominally  Christian  lands. "Whoredom"  in 

this  connection  seems  to  be  literal,  sensual ;  not  the  spiritual  whore- 
dom of  idolatry.  The  essential  spirit  of  licentiousness  has  plunged 
them  into  error  and  folly,  so  that,  from  "  being  under  then*  God," 
in  a  state  of  humble  dependence  and  moral  purity,  they  have  gone 
utterly  into  this  most  imbruting  sin.  Idol  worship  in  all  ages  and 
countries  has  been  intensely  licentious,  mixed  up  with  abominations 
too  foul  to  be  named. 

13.  They  sacrifice  upon  the  tops  of  the  mountains, 
and  burn  incense  upon  the  hills,  under  oaks  and  pop- 
lars and  elms,  because  the  shadow  thereof  is  good: 
therefore  your  daughters  shall  commit  whoredom,  and 
your  spouses  shall  commit  adultery. 

High  places  and  groves  of  great  natural  beauty  and  sublimity 
have  always  been  favorite  localities  for  idol  worship — as  said  here 
— "  because  the  shadow  thereof  is  good  " — pleasant  and  attractive, 
it  being  the  policy  of  Satan  always  to  cluster  around  his  worship 

all  possible  sensuous  attractions. Therefore  the  daughters  and 

wives  of  the  Hebrew  idolaters  became  licentious  and  corrupt.  This 
is  only  the  natural  consequence  of  such  idolatry,  practised  amid 
such  temptations  to  lewdness. 

14.  I  will  not  punish  your  daughters  when  they 
commit  whoredom,  nor  your  spouses  when  they  commit 
adultery :  for  themselves  are  separated  with  whores,  and 
they  sacrifice  with  harlots :  therefore  the  people  that 
doth  not  understand  shall  fall. 

Some  prefer  to  read  interrogatively — "  Shall  I  not  punish,"  &c.  ? 
But  the  usual  sense  of  the  Hebrew  words  is  simply  declarative — 
"I  will  not."    The  sense  seems  to  be — I  will  not  punish  your 


HOSEA.— CHAP.  IV.  23 

daughters  and  wives  for  sins  for  which  yon  are  mainly  responsible. 
So  long  as  you  lead  them  into  such  scenes  of  temptation,  and  allure 
them  on  by  your  own  example,  upon  yourselves  and  not  upon  them 

shall  fall  my  heaviest  judgments. "  Themselves  are  separated," 

&c,  refers  not  to  the  daughters  and  wives,  but  to  the  fathers  and 
husbands.  The  change  of  person  is  peculiar,  but  not  uncommon 
in  Hosea.  The  prophet  is  showing  why  the  fathers  and  not  their 
daughters,  the  husbands  and  not  their  wives,  should  be  specially 
punished.  They  seek  retired  places  with  vile  women ;  they  offer 
idolatrous  sacrifices  with  harlots — a  class  of  women,  as  tbe  Hebrew 

shows,  consecrated  to  pollution  in  the  idol  temples. Therefore 

this  people,  so  utterly  void  of  understanding,  moral  sense,  and 
reason,  shall  fall,  i.  e.,  into  ruin.. 

,  15.  Though  thou,  Israel,  play  the  harlot,  yet  let  not 
Judah  offend ;  and  come  not  ye  unto  Gilgal,  neither  go 
ye  up  to  Beth-aven,  nor  swear,  The  Loed  liveth. 

Thus  far  in  this  chapter  the  sins  of  Israel,  the  ten  tribes,  have 
been  portrayed.     Here  the  prophet  turns  to  admonish  Judah  to 

shun  such  crime  and  its  consequent  ruin. Gilgal  was  one  of  the 

.  centres  of  idol  worship,  as  was  also  Beth-aven,  house  of  vanity, 
which  was  probably  the  place  long  known  as  Bethel — house  of 
God.  The  change  of  name  represents  the  change  from  the  wor- 
ship of  Jehovah  to  the  worship  of  mere  nothings,  vanities. Both 

Gilgal  and  Bethel  had  been  associated  with  the  true  worship  of 
God;  Gilgal  ever  since  the  rolling  up  of  the  heap  of  stones  there 
on  entering  Canaan,  and  the  circumcision  of  all  the  people  there 
(Josh.  4 :  20  and  5  :  9),  and  Samuel's  holding  his  circuit  court  there 
(1  Sam.  7:16);  and  Bethel,  from  that  eventful  night  when  the  Lord 
met  the  youthful  Jacob  there  (Gen.  28 :  16-19).  This  appropria- 
tion of  God's  house  (Bethel)  to  the  devil's  worship  is  one  of  his 

own  Satanic  arts,  kept  up  through  all  time. "  Nor  swear,"  in 

the  profane  way  of  idol  worshippers,  "  The  Lord  liveth."  It  seems 
to  have  been  common  to  blend  with  idolatry  some  of  the  forms  of 
recognizing  the  true  God.     This  he  abhorred. 

16.  For  Israel  slideth  back  as  a  backsliding  heifer : 
now  the  Loed  will  feed  them  as  a  lamb  in  a  large  place. 

"  Sliding  back  "  is  not  strong  enough  to  represent  the  original 
word.  The  figure  supposes  a  young  heifer  under  the  yoke  (for  the 
female  was  put  to  real  work  in  the  East),  but  resisting,  refractory, 
yerking  her  head  away,  and  running  back — a  very  different  sort  of 
action  from  that  gradual  down-hill  sliding  which  is  commonly  asso- 
ciated with  the  English  word,  backslide.  It  is  unfortunate  that  the 
word  backslide,  taken  from  the  Bible  to  describe  a  state  of  Chris- 
tian experience,  should  by  usage  fall  so  far  short  of  the  Bible  sense. 
It  means  here  that  Israel  is  persistent,  stubborn,  half  frantic  in  her 
rebellion  against  God — a  state  of  heart  and  life  utterly  far  from  true 
piety. Now,  i.  e.,  very  soon,  the  Lord  will  give  Israel  a  vast 


24:  HOSEA.— CHAP.   IV. 

range  of  wilderness  for  her  wanderings — will  cast  her  forth  from 
her  land  as  a  lamb  might  he  cast  forth  from  his  secure  and  peaceful 
fold,  to  roam  at  large,  homeless  and  unprotected.  The  passage  pre- 
dicts the  captivity  of  the  ten  tribes  to  Assyria,  but  keeps  up  the 
figure  of  the  refractory  heifer,  only  changing  from  the  heifer  to  the 
lamb  as  being  more  defeuceless,  and  more  wretched  when  lost  and 
wandering  alone.  The  heifer  tears  herself  away ;  God  lets  her  go, 
a  wandering  lamb,  into  a  hopeless  captivity. 

IT.  Ephraim  is  joined  to  idols :  let  him  alone. 

The  Hebrew  w^ord  for  idols  implies  things  made  writh  the  toil- 
some but  fruitless  labor  of  human  hands. Ephraim  is  joined 

to  them  in  the  strong  sense  of  being  closely  united  and  adhering, 

so  to  speak,  to  those  senseless  things. "  Let  him  alone,"  cannot, 

in  this  connection,  be  the  declaration  of  God's  purpose  to  abandon 
Ephraim  and  withdraw  his  Spirit,  as  has  been  supposed  by  some ; 
but  is  God's  command  to  Judah  to  desist  from  all  society  with 
Ephraim  arid  leave  him  to  sin  and  suffer  alone.  The  general  course 
of  thought  in  the  context,  as  well  as  the  phrase  itself,  require  the 

latter  construction. Ilere,  for  the  first  time  in  Hosea,  we  have 

the  word  "Ephraim"  used  for  the  kingdom  and  people  of  the  ten 
tribes — a  usage  due  to  the  great'  preponderance  of  this  tribe  in 
population  and  also  in  dignity  as  having  tho  capital,  Samaria,  and 
as  having  furnished  the  first  king,  Jeroboam. 

18.  Their  drink  is  sour :  they  have  committed  whore- 
dom continually :'  her  rulers  with  shame  do  love,  Give 

ye. 

"  Drink,"  here,  is  not  common  drink,  is  certainly  not  cold  wa- 
ter. The  original  is  always  strong,  intoxicating  drinl\  or  the  drink- 
ing itself —the  carousals.  The  verb*  which  our  translators  havo 
rendered  "  is  sour."  is  used  very  frequently  in  the  general  sense  of 
passing  away,  departing;  and  also  in  the  special  sense  of  departing 
from  God,  apostatizing,  becoming  degenerate.  These  two  senses 
indicate  the  two  constructions  between  which  our  choice  is  to  be 
made.  The  general  sense  is  here  the  more  probable,  as  when  Agag, 
using  the  same  word  (1  Sam.  15  :  32),  said,  "  The  bitterness  of  death 
ia  post."  Hence  I  translate  closely  thus:  "Their  carousals  arc 
over;  they  plunge  into  lewdness;  their  shields  (rulers)  love  shame." 
The  better  to  bring  out  the  sense,  I  paraphrase  the  verse  thus : 
"  When  their  carousals  are  past,  their  passions  are  sharpened  for 
baser  whoredom  :  their  rulers,  who  ought  to  be  their  shields  and 
safeguards  against  such  baseness,  are  themselves  so  corrupt  as  to 
love  what  is  only  their  shame." 

The  second  construction  is  worthy  of  being  suggested.  By  it, 
the  first  veil),  rendered  uis  sour"  has  the  sense  of  becoming  apos- 
tate, thus :  "  He  (Ephraim)  becomes  the  more  apostate  from  God 
through  strong  drink;  so  they  plunge  the  deeper  into  whoredom," 


nosEA.— chap.  iv.  25 

&c.  In  tins  construction  this  verb  looks  toward  its  cognate  *  in 
v.  10  :  There  Israel  is  refractory,  like  an  unbroken  heifer ;  here  be 
becomes  the  more  refractory  as  to  God  through  strong  drink.  This 
verb  unquestionably  bears  the  sense  of  departing  from  God,  becom- 
ing apostate  and  refractory,  as  may  be  seen  in  Deut.  11 :  16  :  "  Ye 
turn  aside  and  serve  other  gods."  Ps.  14:  3  :  "  They  are  all  gone 
aside;  they  are  altogether  become  filthy,"  &c.  But  especially 
Jer.  5  :  23,  where  those  two  cognate  verbs  are  brought  together  as 
parallel :  "  This  people  hath  a  revolting  (*  and  a  rebellious  heart ; 
they  are  revolted  J  and  gone." .  This  passage  entirely  confirms  the 
close  cognate  relationship  between  these  two  verbs — that  in  v.  16, 

and  this  in  18. The  rendering  of  the  verb  with  its  noun  in  tho 

first  clause  is  more  easy  on  the  tirst  construction  above  given,  else 
the  second  of  the  two  would  be  preferable.  The  ultimate  sense  is 
essentially  the  same,  testifying  to  the  fearfully  demoralizing  influ- 
ence of  strong  drink  toward  lewdness  in  the  orgies  of  idolatry. 

The  second  verb  in  this  verse,  expressing  the  practice  of  lewd- 
ness, is  made  intensive  by  the  usual  repetition  of  the  finite  verb  by 
means  of  the  infinitive. The  reader  will  notice  that  my  transla- 
tion of  the  last  clause  differs  from  that  of  our  English  Bible  in  two 
respects,  making  "  shame "  the  object  of  the  verb,  and  entirely 
omitting  the  words  "  Give  ye."  This  last  change  follows  the  best 
critical  authorities  as  to  the  original  text.  These  omit  tins  word 
rendered  "-Give  ye  "  as  spurious,  or,  as  some  conjecture,  attach  it 
to  the  previous  verb,  and  thus  reduplicate  its  two  last  radicals.  The 
very  apposite  sense  thus  obtained  in  the  place  of  one  very  obscure 
and  inept,  justifies  this  choice  between  the  authorities  for  the  orig- 
inal text. 

19.  The  wind  hath  bound  her  up  in  her  wings,  and 
they  shall  be  ashamed  because  of  their  sacrifices. 

The  whirlwind  affords  a  common  figure  for  those  providential 
agencies  with  which  God  overwhelms  and  sweeps  away  the  wicked. 

See  Ps.  58  :  9 ;  Prov.  1 :  27 ;  Isa.  40  :  24,  and  C>G  :  15,  &c. Here  a 

bold  poetic  imagination  gives  to  the  whirlwind  real  life,  and  wings 
in  which  the  guilty  nation  is  enfolded,  to  be  borne  away  to  its  final 
doom — captivity.     Zechariah  (5  :  5-11)  has  the  same  figure  in  a 

slightly  different  dress. "  They  shall  be  confounded  because  of 

their,  sacrifices  "  to  idol  gods  which  cannot  save.  Their  objects  of 
confidence  shall  utterly  fail  them  ;  the  idols  in  which  they  trusted 

shall  prove  their  curse. So  evermore  must  all  the  hopes  of  tho 

wicked  perish  !  That  on  which  they  rely  for  help  shall  become  tho 
millstone  to  sink  them — the  lire  to  scorch  and  blast  them,  for  ever 
and  ever ! 


-ns. 


fTlD.  tT3&. 


26  HOSEA,— CHAP.  V. 


CHAPTER    V. 


In  general,  the  course  of  thought  is  the  same  in  this  chapter  as 
in  the  fourth ;  rebukes  for  sin,  threatening  of  near  judgments,  in 
which  God's  own  hand  should  be  specially  manifest.  Judah  is 
spoken  of  more  frequently  than  in  chapter  iv.,  and  hence,  Judah 
being  less  hardened  than  Ephraim,  the  strain  of  remark  gives  more 
intimations  of  hopeful  repentance. 

1.  Hear  ye  this,  O  priests ;  and  hearken,  ye  house 
of  Israel ;  and  give  ye  ear,  O  house  of  the  king ;  for 
judgment  is  toward  you,  because  ye  have  been  a  snare 
on  Mizpah,  and  a  net  spread  upon  Tabor. 

The  priests  and  the  king  are  specially  called  to  attend  to  this 
message,  because  the  threatened  judgments  were  to  fall  first  and 
most  heavily  on  them.  The  word  "judgment  "  in  the  original  has 
the  article,  and  should  have  in  English — "for  the  judgment" — the 
one  predicted  and  near  impending — "  is  specially  destined  for  yoit." 
The  reason  given  is,  they  have  ensnared  the  people  into  sin — "have 
been  a  snare,"  such  as  is  laid  to  catch  birds,  "on  Mizpah,"  etc. 
Mizpah  and  Tabor  were  "  high  places,"  locations  for  idol  worship; 
the  former  east  of  Jordan,  the  latter  west. 

2.  And  the  revolters  are  profound  to  make  slaughter, 
though  I  have  ~been  a  rebuker  of  them  all. 

The  verb  rendered  "to  make  slaughter"  is  most  commonly  used 
for  the  slaughter  of  animals — rarely  for  the  slaying  of  men ;  and 
in  reference  to  animals,  more  often  for  purposes  of  sacrifice,  less 
often  for  food.     Here  we  may  best  take  the  most  common  sense. 

The  word  rendered  "revolters,"  is  used  both  in  the  concrete, 

meaning  revolters,  and  in  the  abstract,  revolting,  departure  from 
right,  sin.  The  latter  sense  seems  preferable  here.  I  paraphrase 
thus:  "They,"  the  priests  and  the  king,  "make  their  sins  deep, 
even  in  their  slaying  of  animals  for  sacrifice  ;  "  they  deviate  widely 
from  righteousness  and  from  God,  even  in  their  religious  ceremo- 
nies.  "  But  I  will  chastise  them  all."     The  sense  given  in  the 

English  version  may  be  the  true  one :  the  one  given  here  seems 
the  more  probable  as  being  more  in  harmony  with  the  course  of 
thought,  and  equally  in  harmony  with  the  usual  sense  of  the  words. 
The  Lord  assures  them  that  their  sacrifice  of  animals  after  the  law 
of  Moses,  whether  mixed  up  with  idol  worship  and  all  manner  of 
wickedness,  or  standing  by  itself,  yet  used  as  a  cloak  for  their  sin, 
would  avail  them  nothing.  They  might  go  deep  into  it ;  it  could 
be  accounted  only  as  so  much  the  greater  sin,  and  could  by  no 
means  screen  them  from  the  judgments  of  God. 


ROSEA,— CHAP.  v.  27 

3.  I  know  Ephraim,  and  Israel  is  not  hid  from  me : 
for  now,  O  Ephraim,  thou  committest  whoredom,  and 
Israel  is  defiled. 

The  special  pertinence  of  the  declaration  "  I  know  Ephraim," 
&c,  comes  from  the  thought  in  the  verse  preceding — the  attempt 
to  cover  up  idol  worship  and  all  wickedness,  with  the  established 
religious  rites  of  the  Mosaic  system.  What  if  they  do  put  on  the 
fairest  semblance  of  true  worship,  slaughtering  animals  by  the 
thousand — "  I  know  them  ;  "  I  see  through  their  hearts ;  Ephraim 
is  full  of  whoredom  (idolatry). True  it  is  that  men  only  in- 
sult God  the  more  when  they  assume  that  they  can  cover  up  sin  by 
the  forms  of  religion.  To  assume  that  God  cannot  see  through  this 
covering,  is  an  insult  to  his  omniscience ;  to  assume  that  he  can 
ever  accept  such  hypocrisy,  is  an  insult  to  his  holiness. 

4.  They  will  not  frame  their  doings  to  turn  unto 
their  God :  for  the  spirit  of  whoredoms  is  in  the .  midst 
of  them,  and  they  have  not  known  the  Lord. 

A  great  moral  truth  lies  here — that  when  men  have  given  them- 
selves up  heartily  to  sin  and  the  spirit  of  sinning  rules,  and  they 
do  not  care  to  know  God,  then  they  will  not  make  any  honest  ef- 
forts to  turn  to  God;  they  will  not  shape  their  external  doings  so 
as  to  facilitate  the  turning  of  their  hearts  from  sin  to  holiness.  The 
reason  why  they  will  not  is  given  here — the  spirit  of  sinning  is  in 
them  as  the  ruling  power  of  their  heart  and  life.  They  have  not 
known  the  Lord,  and  do  not  intend  to  think  or  to  learn  of  him. 

5.  And  the  pride  of  Israel  doth  testify  to  his  face : 
therefore  shall  Israel  and  Ephraim  fall  in  their  iniquity ; 
Judah  also  shall  fall  with  them. 

The  pride  of  Israel  is  a  true  witness  against  him  to  the  point 
here  charged ;  for  pride  seals  the  evidence  that  the  heart  is  hard- 
ened and  perverse.  When  a  sinner  is  proud  in  his  sin  and  of  his 
sin,  he  gives  the  strongest  evidence  of  being  fully  committed  and 
awfully  hardened. Therefore  shall  Israel  and  Ephraim  foil  un- 
der the  judgments  of  God. Judah  comes  in  here,  and  hencefor- 
ward through  the  chapter,  as  having  shared  in  the  guilt  of  Ephraim, 
and  consequently  as  bound  to  share  her  doom. 

6.  They  shall  go  with  their  flocks  and  with  their 
herds  to  seek  the  Lord  ;  but  they  shall  not  find  him  y 
he  hath  withdrawn  himself  from  them. 

In  the  day  of  their  calamity  they  may  summon  to  their  help  the 
most  costly  forms  and  services  of  religious  worship,  but  all  in  vain. 
There  comes  a  time  when  it  is  too  late  to  cry  even  for  mercy.  The 
Scriptures  repeatedly  affirm  this  awful  truth,  as  e.  g.  Prov.  1 :  24- 
31.    When  mercy  has  been  abused  too  long,  and  patience  in  God 


28  HOSEA.— CHAP.   V. 

ceases  to  be  a  virtue,  then  retribution  must  take  its  course — else 
law  were  a  farce,  and  the  throne  of  justice  would  sink  into  con- 
tempt. 

7.  They  have  dealt  treacherously  against  the  Lord  : 
for  they  have  begotten  strange  children :  now  shall  a 
month  devour  them  with  their  portions. 

The  charge  of  treachery  looks  to  their  violation  of  their  cove- 
nant vows  to  be  the  Lord's.  One  proof  of  this  perfidy  was  that 
they  had  begotten  children  of  foreign  mothers,  by  intermarriage  or 
by  adulterous  connection  with  the  heathen  round  about  them. 

This,  God  had  most  explicitly  forbidden,  Ex.  34: 16. The  time 

of  their  destruction  hastens  on  ;  within  one  month  they  shall  per- 
ish "with  their  portions" — their  idol  gods  whom  they  had  chosen 
as  their  helpers  and  refuge. 

8.  Blow  ye  the  cornet  in  Gibeali,  and  the  trumpet 
in  Raman :  cry  aloud  at  Beth-aven ;  after  thee,  O  Ben- 
jamin. 

The  enemy  are  near ;  let  the  war-cry  ring  out  the  alarm  on  the 
very  hill-tops  where  the  idol  temples  stand.  "  Cry  aloud  at  Beth- 
aven  " — that  place  once  sacred  as  Bethel,  the  house  of  God  ;  now 
desecrated  by  idol-worship  into  Beth-aven — house  of  vanity — noth- 
ings.  "  After  thee,  O  Benjamin,"  it  seems  most  natural  to  take 

as  the  very  words  of  the  outcry.  "  The  foe  is  after  thee,"  or  be- 
hind thee,  close  upon  thee. 

9.  Ephraim  shall  be  desolate  in  the  day  of  rebuke  : 
among  the  tribes  of  Israel  have  I  made  known  that 
which  shall  surely  be. 

The  judgment  on  Ephraim  should  be  sweeping  and  extermina- 
ting, putting  an  end  to  her  nationality,  and  leaving  her  desecrated 

land  a  desolation. "Rebuke"  here  refers  to  deeds,  not  words; 

to  the  judgments  of  war,  subjugation,  captivity. The  last  clause 

refers  to  the  warnings  God  had  given  to  the  people  of  the  ten  tribes 
by  the  mouth  of  Iiosea  and  other  prophets.  What  they  had  said 
from  the  Lord  was  wholly  true,  and  should  surely  come  to  pass. 

10.  The  princes  of  Judah  were  like  them  that  re- 
move the  bound :  therefore  I  will  pour  out  my  wrath 
upon  them  like  water. 

The  "  bound  "  referred  to  is  the  landmark  by  which  contiguous 
estates  were  defined.  In  the  absence  offences  these  "bounds" 
were  relied  on  in  practice.  The  sin  of  removing  them  is  the 
greater  because  so  easily  done  and  so  difficult  of  detection.  The 
Mosaic  law  severely  denounced  this  sin.  (See  Deut.  19 :  14  and 
27 :  17.)  It  became  a  proverb  to  signify  a  man  of  no  conscience 
and  no  honor. 


HOSEA.— CHAP.  V.  29 

11.  Ephraim  is  oppressed  and  broken  in  judgment 
because  lie  willingly  walked  after  tlie  commandment. 

Ephraini  is  crushed  utterly  under  tlie  divine  judgments  because 
he  heartily  consented  to  walk  after  the  commandment  of  Jeroboam, 
son  of  Nebat,  who  bade  the  people  worship  the  golden  calves  at 
Bethel  and  at  Dan.  (1  Kings  12  :  28-33.)  This  is  the  command- 
ment referred  to  as  the  first  fatal  step — the  occasion  of  the  sad  re- 
lapse which  was  so  soon  to  end  in  the  utter  ruin  of  the  people  and 
the  kingdom. 

12.  Therefore  will  I  le  unto  Ephraim  as  a  moth, 
and  to  the  house  of  Judah.as  rottenness. 

This  strong  language  implies  sapping  the  nation's  vitality  and 
leaving  it  utterly  powerless. 

13.  When  Ephraim  saw  his  sickness,  and  Judah  saio 
his  wound,  then  went  Ephraim  to  the  Assyrian,  and 
sent  to  king  Jareb :  yet  could  he  not  heal  you,  nor  cure 
you  of  your  wound. 

This  "  sickness  "  and  "  wound  "  are  of  the  body  politic.  The 
sense  is  that  each  kingdom,  conscious  of  its  weakness  and  danger, 

sent  to  the  Assyrian  jjower  for  help,  but  to  no  good  purpose. 

Before  the  word  "sent,"  Juclah  should  be  supplied.  Ephraim 
went  to  the  Assyrian  king,  and  Judah  sent,  &c.  The  history  takes 
note  of  both  these  facts.  Ephraim  (2  Kings  15  :  19,  20),  threat- 
ened by  Pul,  king  of  Assyria,  "gave  him  a  thousand  talents  of  sil- 
ver, that  his  hand  might  be  with  him  to  confirm  the  kingdom  in  his 
hand."  Judah  (2  Kings  16  :  7),  threatened  by  Kezin  of  Syria,  sent 
to  Tiglath-Pileser  of  Assyria  for  help.    In  neither  case  was  this 

call  for  help  of  any  avail. "  Jareb  "  is  not  the  proper  name  of 

any  king,  but  is  a  verb,  meaning  one  who  should  interpose,  or,  in 
modern  phrase,  intervene.  This  was  precisely  what  Ahaz  king  of 
Judah  sought  of  the  Assyrian  king,  that  he  should  intervene  and 
help  himself  against  Kezin  of  Syria. 

14.  For  I  will  he  unto  Ephraim  as  a  lion,  and  as  a 
young  lion  to  the  house  of  Judah :  I,  even  I,  will  tear 
and  go  away ;  I  will  take  away,  and  none  shall  rescue 
him. 

The  connection  of  thought  is — ISTo  good  can  come  of  Assyrian 
help,  ufor  I  will  be  unto  Ephraim  as  a  lion,"  &c, — the  lion  being  a 
symbol  of  power  that  turns  not  from  its  purpose  for  any.  Com- 
pare Ps.  50  :  22 :  "  Consider  this,  ye  that  forget  God,  lest  I  tear 
you  in  pieces,  and  there  be  none  to  deliver."  The  symbol  should 
not  be  forced  so  as  to  carry  over  to  the  Almighty  all  the  qualities 
of  the  lion — not  his  ferocity,  not  his  heartless  cruelty,  but  only  his 
great  power  which  none  can  evade,  none  escape,  none  withstand. 


30  HOSEA.— CHAP.  VI 

The  manner  of  the  lion  is  carried  out  hero  to  a  remarkable  ex- 
tent. He  tears  his  prey  in  pieces ;  goes  away ;  comes  again ;  then 
takes  some  of  it  with  him  to  his  place,  and  none  can  rescue  from 

his  grasp. There  were  points  analogous  to  this*  in  the  ways  of 

God  toward  Ephraim  and  Judah,  as  the  prophet  proceeds  to  show. 

15.  I  will  go  and  return  to  ray  place,  till  they  ac- 
knowledge their  offence,  and  seek  rny  face :  in  their  af- 
fliction they  will  seek  me  early. 

Especially  in  this  respect  would  the  Lord  he  as  a  lion  to  those 
kingdoms.  He  would  send  one  fearful  scourge ;  then  retire  as  it 
were  to  his  place  to  watch  and  wait  for  the  moral  result.  Eor 
God's  purpose  in  sending  these  afflictions  was  never  vindictive,  was 
never  merely  to  destroy,  hut  only  to  constrain  them  to  seek  his 
face  in  repentance. The  verb  rendered  "  acknowledge  their  of- 
fence "  means  primarily  to  be  guilty ;  then  to  bear  one's  guilt  in 
the  sense  of  suffering  punishment  or  chastisement  for  it.  The  lat- 
ter seems  clearly  to  be  the  sense  here.     There  is  no  decisive  usage 

to  sustain  the  interpretation — "  acknowledge  one's  offence." The 

Lord,  having  sorely  chastised  them,  would  wait  till  they  had  borne 
the  infliction,  and  had  been  brought  by  it  to  seek  his  face.  He  is 
sure  that  hi  their  affliction  they  will  seek  him  early,  or  earnestly, 
as  one  who  is  up  betimes  in  the  morning  to  a  work  lying  near  his 

heart.     So  the  original  implies. Here  the  chapter  closes,  but  the 

course  of  thought  passes  over  to  the  next  unbroken. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

In  this  chapter  we  have  calls  to  repentance,  assurances  of  God's 
great  mercy,  but  this  mercy  is  grieved  by  the  fickleness  of  God's 
degenerate  people.  It  closes  with  continued  details  of  aggravated 
wickedness. 

1.  Come,  and  let  us  return  unto  the  Loud  :  for  he 
hath  torn,  and  he  will  heal  us ;  he  hath  smitten,  and  he 
will  bind  us  up. 

With  unsurpassed  beauty  and  force,  the  Lord  himself  gives  his 
people  the  very  words  with  which  they  may  exhort  each  other  to 
return  to  him.  The  marvel  is  that  in  the  figure  the  Lord  is  no 
more  the  lion,  but  an  angel  of  mercy,  coming  down  to  bind  up  the 
wounds  himself  has  made!  And  it  is  he  himself  that  declares 
this — testimony,  therefore,  that  could  not  be  better.  Indeed,  we 
could  not  reasonably  accept  any  other.  For  who  else  could  know, 
or  who  else  could  make  us  believe,  that  the  same  God  who  hath 
torn  will  also  heal — the  same  who  hath  smitten  will  also  bind  up? 
Such  are  the  wondrous  things  of  God's  mercy. 


HOSEA.— CHAP.  VI.  31 

2.  After  two  days  will  lie  revive  us :  in  the  third 
day  he  will  raise  us  up,  and  we  shall  live  in  his  sight. 

The  general  sense  is  clear.  God  will  soon  revive  us  if  chastise- 
ment has  wrought  its  proper  fruits.  Various  conjectures  have 
been  made  to  answer  the  question,  Why  does  he  say  so  definitely, 

"After  two  days,"    "on  the  third  day?" Some  have  found 

here,  as  they  suppose,  an  allusion  to  the  resurrection  of  Christ. 
But  this  passage  has  the  air  of  historic  allusion  and  not  of  proph- 
ecy ;  and  historic  allusions  look  to  the  past,  and  not  to  the  future. 
The  manner  of  this  passage  is  not  that  of  prophecy,  foretelling  some 
future  event  to  occur  after  two  days  or  on  the  third,  but  it  is  rather 
that  of  a  statement  shaped  by  the  thought,  then  present  to  the 
mind,  of  some  analogous  event  in  past,  well-known  history.  Such 
an  event  I  find  substantially  in  the  case  of  the  pestilence  sent  on 
Israel  for  David's  sin  of  numbering  the  people.  (See  2  Sam.  24.) 
"When  for  this  sin  three  forms  of  judgment  were  proposed  to  David 
for  his  choice,  he  chose  the  pestilence,  as  coming  more  directly  from 
the  hand  of  God,  saying,  "Let  us  fall  now  into  the  hand  of  the 
Lord,  for  his  mercies  are  great,  and  let  me  not  fall  into  the  hand 
of  man.""  This  pestilence  continued  three  days,  no  more.  The 
Lord  became  a  lion  to  tear,  so  long ;— then  turned  to  revive  and 
restore.  This  case,  supposed  to  have  been  before  the  mind  of  Ho- 
sea,  would  fitly  account  for  his  naming  two  and  three  days.  Hosea 
abounds,  beyond  most  of  the  sacred  writers,  in  historic  allusions. 

A  case  much  less  closely  parallel  may  be  seen  in  the  plague  of 

darkness  on  Egypt  of  three  days.  And  there  may  be  a  tacit  allusion 
to  the  fact  that  three  days  is  about  the  extent  of  human  endurance 
under  extreme  privations  and  hardships,  as  e.  g.  the  case  of  the 
Egyptian  found  by  David's  men.  (1  Sam.  30  :  11,  12.)  The  senti- 
ment would  then  be  that  God  is  wont  to  arrest  his  judgments  before 
human  endurance  is  quite  exhausted. 

3.  Then  shall  we  know,  if  we  follow  on  to  know 
the  Lord  :  his  going  forth  is  prepared  as  the  morning  ; 
and  he  shall  come  unto  us  as  the  rain,  as  the  latter  and 
former  rain  unto  the  earth. 

Our  translators  apprise  us  that  they  found  no  word  in  the  orig- 
inal for  "  if."  It  is  more  true  to  the  original  and  equally  pertinent 
sense  to  read  it,  "  Then  let  us  know,  let  us  follow  on  to  know  the 
Lord,"  &c,  i.  e.  encouraged  by  these  demonstrations  of  his  mercy, 
let  us  seek  to  know,  yea  let  us  follow  on  earnestly  to  know  the 

Lord. '^His  going  forth,"  in  this  connection,  is  not  his  going 

in  general,  but  his  going  forth  in  the  revelations  of  his  great  mercy 
— his  outgoing,  as  the  sun  comes  to  light  after  the  darkness  of 
storm  or  of  night — the  original  word  being  currently  used  for  the 
rising  of  the  sun.  David  uses  it  in  his  exquisite  nineteenth  psalm, 
saying  of  the  sun,  "  His  going  forth  is  from  one  end  of  the  heav- 
ens and  his  circuit  to  the  other  end  thereof,"    So  God's  coming 


32  HOSEA.— CHAP.  VI. 

fortli  in  the  displays  of  his  mercy  "is  prepared  as  the  morning, n 
equally  sure  in  its  place,  and  nothing  in  nature  more  fitly  repre- 
sents the  revelations  of  his  mercy  as  they  rise  on  "benighted  souls. 

The  next  figure  also  is  rich  in  beauty  and  in  bles-sings. "  He 

shall  come  unto  us,"  corresponding  in  sense  to  his  "  going  forth,'" 
"as  the  great  rain  "  (often  called  the  "former  rain"),  "and  as  the 
latter  rain  that  water  the  earth."     This  is  a  precise  translation  of 

the  original. The  former  rain,  succeeding  a  long  dry  season, 

falling  from  the  middle  of  October  to  the  middle  of  December, 
prepared  the  ground  for  seed-sowing,  and  if  abundant,  gave  assur- 
ance of  harvests.  The  latter  rain  fell  in  March  and  April,  ma- 
turing the  crops,  and  continuing  in  some  seasons  quite  to  their 
early  harvest,  from  which  fact  it  takes  its  Hebrew  name. 

Those  who  have  "  tasted  that  the  Lord  is  gracious  "  will  appre- 
ciate the  fitness  and  force  of  these  illustrations,  and  will  not  wonder 
that  the  most  beautiful  and  beneficent  things  in  nature  are  clustered 
together  to  set  forth  the  munificent  loving-kindness  of  the  Lord. 

4.  O  Ephraim,  what  sliall  I  do  unto  thee  %  O  Ju- 
dah,  what  shall  I  do  unto  thee  ?  for  your  goodness  is  as 
a  morning  cloud,  and  as  the  early  dew  it  goeth  away. 

Alas!  that  there  should  ever  be  occasion  to  turn  so  abruptly  from 
the  glory  of  God's  mercy  to  the  meanness  of  man's  sin  ! — from  the 
enduring  love  and  the  well-ordered  going  forth  of  his  light  and  sal- 
vation, to  the  fickleness  of  man's  best  resolutions,  and  to  the  incon- 
stancy of  his  most  hopeful  professions ! The  antithesis  between 

this  verse  and  the  preceding  one  should  be  noted.  The  morning 
light,  gloriously  outbreaking  from  the  east,  is  God's  love  shining  out 
on  the  darkness  of  the  sin-stricken  soul.  The  morning  cloud  and 
the  early  dew,  hopeful  and  sweet  for  a  moment,  but  soon  gone  up 
as  if  they  had  never  been,  are  the  goodness  of  God's  inconstant 
people.  We  cannot  wonder  that  the  Lord  should  exclaim:  "O 
Ephraim,  what  shall  I  do  unto  thee  ?  "  By  what  new  and  untried 
appliances  shall  I  bring  stability  out  of  fickleness,  and  make  your 
wavering  steps  steadfast? 

5.  Therefore  have  I  hewed  them  by  the  prophets  ;  I 
have  slain  them  by  the  words  of  my  mouth :  and  thy 
judgments  are  as  the  light  that  goeth  forth. 

As  to  the  figures  in  this  verse — "hewing  them  by  the 
prophets,"  "slaying  them  by  the  words  of  my  mouth" — we  may 
fitly  remember  that  Solomon  says:  "The  words  of  the  "wise  are  as 
goads  and  as  nails"  (Eccl.  12:  11),  and  Paul  (Ileb.  4:12)  speaks 
of  "the  word  of  God  as  sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword,  pierc- 
ing even  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit,"  and  also  (Eph. 
G:  17)  of  "the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  word  of  God." 
The  Lord  signifies  here  that  he  has  used  sharp  and  cutting  words  in 
his  messages  to  the  people — has,  in  fact,  exhausted  the  power  of 


HOSEA.— CHAP.  VI.  33 

earnest  language  to  pierce  the  hard  shell  of  their  heart  and  reach 

live  flesh. "  Thy  judgments  are  as  the  light " — clear,  impressive, 

awe-inspiring  as  the  lightnings  of  heaven — for  so  the  word  may 
signify.  The  instances  of  this  usage  are  comparatively  rare,  how- 
ever, and  the  common  sense,  light,  is  pertinent  and  forcible.  God 
had  made  his  displeasure  toward  their  sins  clear  as  the  light. 

6.  For  I  desired  mercy,  and  not  sacrifice ;  and  the 
knowledge  of  God  more  than  burnt-offerings. 

"Mercy"  here  represents  the  whole  circle  of  moral  duties  tow- 
ard man,  as  in  the  next  clause,  "  the  knowledge  of  God "  stands 
for  that  which  is  practical,  not  theoretical  only,  and  comprises  all 

right  affections  toward  God. -The  people  had  shown  themselves 

far  more  ready  to  offer  sacrifices  than  to  do  right  toward  either 
God  or  man.  The  Lord,  on  the  contrary,  held  sacrifices  in  low  es- 
teem, but  held  in  the  highest  esteem  mercy  toward  man  and  the 
intelligent  worship  and  homage  of  the  heart  toward  God. 

See  a  similar  doctrine  taught  in  the  Old  Testament,  Ps.  40 : 7-9 
and  50 :  8-23 ;  Isa.  1 :  11-17,  and  Micah  6  :  C-8. 

Our  divine  Teacher  on  two  several  occasions  endorsed  the  sen- 
timent of  this  verse  most  emphatically,  Matt.  9:13,  and  12:7; 
"  Go  ye  and  learn  what  that  meaneth  ;  I  wTill  have  mercy,  and  not 
sacrifice  " — said,  in  this  case,  to  show  why  he  ate  with  publicans 

and  sinners — viz.,  to  save  their  souls. "But  if  ye  had  known 

what  this  meaneth — 'I  will  have  mercy,  and  not  sacrifice,'  ye 
would  not  have  condemned  the  guiltless;  "  said  in  rebuke  of  the 

Pharisees  for  their  judgments  in  regard  to  keeping  the  Sabbath. 

This  form  of  statement  should  not  be  pressed  to  mean  that  God 
had  never  required  sacrifice  and  burnt-offerings  ;  this  wrould  not  be 
true. 

This  doctrine  needs  often  to  be  revived  and  reiterated,  so  prone 
are  men  to  put  the  forms  and  ceremonies  of  religion  in  the  place 
of  real  kindness  and  justice  toward  man,  and  honest  heart-worship 
of  God.  American  slaveholding  Christianity  is  a  striking  case  in 
point — an  effort  to  conform  Christianity  to  the  demands  of  the 
time  by  framing  a  system  of  religion  and  morals  with  mercy  and 
even  justice  left  out,  and  the  real  knowledge  of  God  woefully  per- 
verted. 

7.  But  they  like  men  have  transgressed  the  covenant ; 
there  have  they  dealt  treacherously  against  me. 

The  word  rendered  "men"  is,  in  Hebrew,  adam,  and  may  be 
either  a  proper  noun,  meaning  Adam,  or  a  common  noun,  meaning 
man.  Hence  this  clause  has  been  construed  three  ways  :  (1.)  "  They, 
like  common  men,  have  transgressed  the  covenant " — the  point  being 
that  they,  being  priests,  princes,  and  a  people  long  trained  of  God, 
have  yet  broken  their  covenant,  as  common  men  might  do ;  or, 
(2.)  "They  are  like  men  who  break  covenant" — the  point  here 
being  that  they  break  their  covenant  with  God  as  men  are  wont  to 


34  HOSEA.— CHAP.  VI. 

break  their  covenants  with  each  other,  accounting  obligation  to  God 
no  more  sacred  than  a  man's  obligation  to  his  fellow  ;  or,  (3.)  "  They, 
like  Adam,  have  broken  covenant ;  "  their  obligation,  like  his,  being 
all  the  more  sacred  by  reason  of  their  intimate  and  honored  rela- 
tions to  the  glorious  God. 

Of  these  various  interpretations,  none  bad,  the  last  has  in  its 
favor  the  obvious  antithesis  between  "they"  and  "Adam,"  which 
stands  out  strongly  in  the  original,  inasmuch  as  the  use  of  the  per- 
sonal pronoun  in  Hebrew  is  not  common,  and  is,  therefore,  usually 

somewhat  emphatic  where  introduced  as  here. A  parallel  case 

of  the  use  of  Adam  as  a  proper  and  not  a  common  noun,  is  found 
Job  31 :  33:  "If  I  covered  my  transgressions  as  Adam"  did,  etc. 

"  There"  in  the  phrase,  "  there  have  they  dealt  treacherously," 

refers  to  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes,  where  the  great  mass  had 
proved  utterly  treacherous  toward  God. 

8.  Gilead  is  a  city  of  them  that  work  iniquity,  and 
is  polluted  with,  blood. 

From  general  charges  of  sin,  the  prophet  here  becomes  specific. 

Gilead  (often  called  Earn oth- Gilead)  was  a  prominent  city  of 

refuge  (see  Deut.  4 :  43)  on  the  east  of  Jordan.  The  cities  of  refuge 
made  special  provision  for  the  residence  of  the  priests,  who,  indeed, 
were  needed  there  to  hold  civil  courts  and  determine  questions  of 
manslaughter,  which  naturally  came  to  trial  there.  But  this  city 
was  full  of  bloody  violence — as  the  last  clause  of  the  verse  has  it — 
"  tracked  or  foot-stepped  with  blood."     Murderers  left  their  bloody 

footprints  along  its  streets. It  appears  from  2  Kings,   15  :  25, 

that  Pekah,  in  conspiring  against  and  murdering  Pekahiah,  had 
with  him  fifty  men  of  the  Gileadites.  To  this  fact  the  prophet  may 
allude.  From  such  a  city  he  might  get  fit  materials  for  conspiracy 
and  murder. 

9.  And  as  troops  of  robbers  wait  for  a  man,  so  the 
company  of  priests  murder  in  the  way  by  consent :  for 
they  commit  lewdness. 

This  might  be  closely  translated  thus:  "  As  robber-gangs  way- 
laymen,  so  bands  of  priests  commit  murder  on  the  way  to  Shechem, 

for  they  work  out  deep-laid  schemes  of  crime." Shechem  (by 

mistake  of  our  translators  taken  as  a  common  noun)  was  another 
city  of  refuge,  inhabited  largely  by  priests  therefore,  who  waylaid 
travellers  coming  to  the  city — perhaps  the  implication  is,  such  as 
were  fleeing  thither  for  refuge — so  horribly  did  they  pervert  the 

functions  of  justice  committed  to  their  hands ! The  last  word 

does  not  mean  lewdness,  but  intentional,  studied  crime — all  the 
more  guilty  in  the  view  both  of  God  and  man  for  the  amount  of 
thought  and  deep-laid  plot  that  entered  into  it. 

10.  I  have  seen  an  horrible  thing  in  the  house  of 


HOSEA.— GHAP.  VI.  35 

Israel :  there  is  the  whoredom  of  Ephrairo,  Israel  is  de- 
filed. 

It  is  in  view  of  snch  particulars  as  these  that  the  Lord  now  ex- 
claims, "I  have  seen  horrible  things  in  the  house  of  Israel!  "— — r 
"Whoredom  "  seems  here  to  be  idolatry,  the  mother  sin  of  all  sins 
in  the  land. 

11.  Also,  O  Juclah,  he  hath  set  an  harvest  for  thee, 
when  I  returned  the  captivity  of  my  people. 

This  verse  has  caused  commentators  much  perplexity.  The 
questions  have  been,  whether  the  "  harvest "  appointed  of  God  for 
Judah  betokened  blessings  or  calamities ;  and,  if  the  latter,  how  it 
can  correspond  with  bringing  back  their  captives — a  tact  which 

naturally  and  usually  indicates  blessings. The  first  word,  well 

rendered  "  also,"  implies  that  the  Lord  had  something  for  Judah 
of  the  same  sort  which  he  was  about  to  bring  on  Ephraim;  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  strain  of  the  previous  context  as- 
sumes the  near  coming  of  fearful  judgments  on  Ephraim. Then 

further,  prophetic  usage  very  uniformly  makes  the  harvest  a  sym- 
bol of  judgments.  (See  Jer.  51 :  33  ;  Joel  3  :  13  ;  Rev.  14 :  15-20.) 
These  considerations  go  far  to  show  that  the  passage  must  predict 
judgments  on  Judah — naturally,  a  great  slaughter.  It  only  re- 
mains to  see  how  this  can  comport  with  the  Lord's  bringing  back 
the  captives  of  his  people.  The  history  recorded  2  Chron.  28 : 1-15 
solves  this  remarkable  problem,  meeting  all  its  difficulties,  and 
readily  accounting  for  its  apparent  incompatibilities. 

Ahaz,  king  of  Judah,  reigned  wickedly ;  for  which  God  delivered 
him  into  the  hand  of  the  king  of  Syria,  who  smote  him  and  took 
many  captives  to  Damascus.  God  also  delivered  him  into  the  hand 
of  the  king  of  Israel,  who  smote  him  with  great  slaughter.  "  For 
Pekah  slew  in  Judah  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  in  one 
day,  because  they  had  forsaken  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers."  He 
also  took  away  two  hundred  thousand  captives,  women,  sons,  and 
daughters,  and  brought  them  to  Samaria. Here  was  a  fearful  har- 
vest in  the  sense  of  a  great  slaughter.  Yet,  contrary  to  all  human 
expectation,  it  was  closely  connected  with  God's  interposition  to 
bring  back  the  captives  of  his  people,  for  the  history  proceeds  to 
say  that  when  the  captives  were  brought  into  Samaria,  a  prophet  of 
the  Lord  was  there  by  the  name  of  Oded,  and  that  he  went  bef<  re 
the  host  of  Israel  and  expostulated  with  them  earnestly,  and  finally 
persuaded  them  to  send  all  the  captives  home.  Hence,  although 
God  brought  back  their  captives,  yet  a  harvest  was  set  for  Judah  in 
the  usual  sense  of  an  immense  slaughter  of  their  people. 


36  HOSEA.— CHAP.  VII. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

SPEAKER  of  Ephraim,  this  chapter  continues  to  portray  his 
treachery,  blindness,  intense  passion  in  sinning,  and  extreme  folly. 
It  should  he  specially  noted  that  throughout  this  and  the  succeeding 
chapters  to  the  twelfth,  Ephraim,  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes,  is 
the  theme  of  remark,  Judah  being  scarcely  mentioned.  The  his 
toric  events  alluded  to  fell  within  the  last  years  of  the  kingdom- 
some  of  them  in  the  reign  of  Hoshea,  its  last  king. 

1.  When  I  would  have  healed  Israel,  then  the  iniquity 
of  Ephraim  was  discovered,  and  the  wickedness  of 
Samaria  :  for  they  commit  falsehood  :  and  the  thief 
cometh  in,  and  the  troop  of  robbers  spoileth  without. 

The  time  specially  referred  to,  when  the  Lord  sought  to  heal 
Israel,  and  the  indications  were  hopeful,  may  probably  have  been 
when  they  sent  home  their  Jewish  captives,  as  in  2  Chron.  28 :  9- 
15 — historically  coincident  with  the  events  referred  to  in  the  close 
of  the  previous  chapter.  At  that  time  "  certain  of  the  heads  of  the 
children  of  Ephraim  "  acknowledged  the  guilt  of  their  nation,  and 
spake  sensibly  of  "  God's  fierce  wrath  against  Israel."  But  these 
hopeful  appearances  soon  passed  away;  the  nation  proved  false  to 
Jehovah  and  false  to  even  common  morality;  thieves  break  into 

houses  and  robbers  plunder  abroad. So  it  often  happens  that  the 

deepest  wickedness  comes  to  light  only  under  the  special  efforts 
which  the  Lord  makes  to  heal  and  restore.  When  wicked  men 
will  not  be  healed,  and  only  become  the  more  infatuated  and  deter- 
mined, and  the  more  outbreaking  in  their  sin  for  all  the  labor  of 
Live  which  God  bestows  upon  them  to  reclaim  them,  they  are  fast 
verging  to  the  brink  of  ruin.  How  painfully  discouraging  even  to 
infinite  patience  and  pity  ! 

Some  suppose  that  the  period  specially  referred  to  as  one  in 
which  the  Lord  would  have  healed  Israel,  was  during  the  reign  of 
Jeroboam  second.  This  reign  was  one  of  general  prosperity.  (See  2 
Kings  14 :  23-28.)  He  restored  the  coast  of  Israel  on  the  north,  as 
had  been  foretold  by  Jonah :  "  For  the  Lord  saw  the  affliction  of 
Israel  that  it  was  most  bitter,  for  there  was  not  any  shut  up,  nor 
any  left,  nor  any  helper  for  Israel;  and  the  Lord  said  not  that  he 
would  blot  out  the  name  of  Israel  from  under  heaven ;  but  he 
saved  them  by  the  hand  of  Jeroboam,  the  son  of  Joash." 

Manifestly  here  was  one  special  effort  to  heal  Israel.  Hosea 
may  have  thought  of  more  than  one.  The  Lord  is  wont  to  repeat 
such  efforts  of  reclaiming  mercy. 

2.  And  they  consider  not  in  their  hearts,  that  I 
remember  all  their  wickedness :  now  their  own  doings 


have  beset  them  about;  they  are  before  my  face. 


b% 


HOSEA.— CHAP.  VII.  37 

Literally — "  They  do  not  say  to  their  heart,  I  remember  all 
their  wickedness.  Now  their  own  doings  invest  them — lie  on  the 
outside  surface  as  a  garment — palpably  before  my  face,  with  no  con- 
cealment." 

3.  They  make  the  king  glad  with  their  wickedness, 
and  the  princes  with  their  lies. 

Their  king  and  princes,  instead  of  frowning  upon  the  wicked- 
ness of  the  people,  were  in  full  sympathy  with  it,  and  could  be 
drawn  in  to  rejoice  in  it  all. 

4.  They  are  all  adulterers,  as  an  oven  heated  by  the 
baker,  who  ceasetli  from  raising  after  he  hath  kneaded 
the  dough,  until  it  be  leavened. 

"  Adulterers,"  probably  in  the  literal,  not  the  symbolic  sense. 

Idolatry  fostered  lewdness. The  figure  of  an  "oven"  as  used  in 

vs.  4,  6,  7,  demands  special  notice.  Of  course,  we  must. go  far 
back  of  the  modern  stove-oven  in  which  the  heat  is  generated  and 
used  at  the  same  time.  In  the  kind  of  ancient  oven  here  referred 
to,  as  also  in  those  used  commonly  before  the  age  of  stoves,  the  heat- 
ing is  done  he/ore  the  baking,  and  the  excellence  of  the  oven  con- 
sists in  its  power  to  hold  heat,  and  give  it  up  gradually  for  baking 
purposes.  Precisely  at  this  point  the  figure  applies.  The  baker 
gets  up  an  intense  heat,  and  then  takes  out  his  fuel  and  lets  it  rest 
till  the  first  intense  heat  is  somewhat  abated,  lie  trusts  his  oven  to 
hold  heat  while  his  dough  is  rising ;  indeed,  by  closing  his  oven 
with  his  fuel  in,  he  may  keep  the  heat  confined  there  so  that  he  can 
sleep  all  night,  and  yet  find  every  thing  ready  for  flaming  out  in 

the  morning. So  these  wicked  men  are  perpetually  heated  up 

with  the  hot  passions  of  sin.  They  do  not  need  new  incitements 
continually.  The  old  fires,  smothered  for  a  time,  flame  out  again 
on  the  first  occasion.     The  heart  of  wicked  men  holds  heal — the 

heat  of  sinful  passion — like  an  oriental  oven. The  last  clause  of 

v.  4,  should  read,  "ceaseth  from  firing  up,"  i.  e.,  his  oven,  "after 
the  kneading  of  the  dough,  until  it  is  risen."  Once  intensely  heated, 
it  can  be  trusted  to  rest,  and  indeed  to  bake  only  the  better 
therefor. 

5.  In  the  day  of  our  king  the  princes  have  made  him 
sick  with  bottles  of  wine;  he  stretched  out  his  hand 
with  scorners. 

"  The  day  of  our  king "  would  naturally  be  his  birth-day,  or 
perhaps  his  coronation-day — devoted,  therefore,  to  special  festivi- 
ties. On  that  day,  "the  princes  made  him  sick  (intoxicated)  with 
the  heat  of  wine,"  not  "bottles."  "He  stretched  out  his  hand 
with  scorners,"  Belshazzar-like ;  for  when  men  are  inflamed  with 
wine,  they  are  wont  to  scoff  at  things  sacred. 

C.  For  they  have  made  ready  their  heart  like  an 


38  HOSEA.— CHAP.  VII. 

oven,  while  they  lie  in  wait :  their  baker  sleepeth  all 
the  night ;  in  the  morning  it  burnetii  as  a  flaming  fire. 

7.  They  are  all  hot  as  an  oven,  and  have  devoured 
their  judges ;  all  their  kings  are  fallen :  there  is  none 
among  them  that  calleth  unto  me. 

The  special  form  of  wickedness  spoken  of  here  is  that  of  plotting 
the  destruction  of  their  princes,  judges,  and  kings.  That  such  con- 
spiracies were  shockingly  common,  the  brief  history  of  this  period 
shows. 

The  verse  may  be  rendered  thus  :  "  For  they  bring  their  hearts 
close  together  as  in  the  oven,  in  their  plots ;  all  night  their  baker 
sleeps  "  (so  perfectly  is  the  plot  laid) ;  "  in  the  morning  he  bums  as 
with  the  fiery  flame."  [The  baker  represents  the  managing  spirit 
of  the  plot.]  "All  of  them  are  hot  as  the  oven  :  they  devour  their 
judges,"  as  fire  devours;  "all  their  kings  fall"  (before  such  con- 
spiracies), "  and  none  among  them  call  uuto  me  " — to  the  fear  of 
God  and  to  repentance  for  such  wickedness. 

8.  Ephraim,  he  hath  mixed  himself  among  the 
people  ;  Ephraim  is  a  cake  not  turned. 

The  "  people  "  here  are  the  heathen  nations.  Ephraim  had 
mixed  himself  with  them  by  means  of  entangling  alliances,  but 
more  especially  by  importing  their  idol-worship.  The  figure  of  "  a 
cake  not  turned,"  is  suggested  by  the  oven.  The  kind  of  oven 
thought  of  here  seems  to  be  different  from  that  in  mind  in  the 
previous  verses.  The  most  ancient  mode  of  baking  was  to  heat  the 
naked  sand  with  a  lire  ;  then  remove  the  fire,  and  lay  on  the  dough. 
This,  of  course,  must  soon  be  "  turned."  To  this  our  verse  alludes. 
Another  form  of  oven  was  a  hole  excavated  in  the  earth  and  walled 
up ;  and  still  a  third,  bearing  the  name  given  here,  vs.  -i,  G,  7,  was 
made  of  brick,  besmeared  within  and  without  with  clay. 

"A  cake  not  turned"  in  the  first-named  sort  of  oven,  would 
naturally  be  burned  on  one  side,  and  raw  on  the  other— all  worth- 
less— spoiled  by  bad  baking.  The  fact  of  its  being  spoiled,  rather 
than  any  particular  analogy  in  the  mode  of  doing  it,  seems  to  be  the 
thought  of  the  passage. 

9.  Strangers  have  devoured  his  strength,  and  he 
knoweth  it  not :  yea,  gray  hairs  are  here  and  there  upon 
him,  yet  he  knoweth  not. 

As  usual  in  the  Scriptures,  "  strangers"  are  foreigners — born  in 
other  lands.  Indications  of  decrepitude  and  of  death  near  at  hand 
are  on  him,  and  he  is  not  aware  of  it. 

10.  And  the  pride  of  Israel  testifieth  to  his  face  :  and 
they  do  not  return  to  the  Lokd  their  God,  nor  seek  him 
Cor  all  this. 


HOSEA— CHAP.  VII.  39 

The  same  expression  as  to  pride  occurred  above  (5  :  5).  Pride 
is  working  his  ruin.  The  judgments  of  God  fail  of  leading  him  to 
return  in  penitence. 

11.  Epliraim  also  is  like  a  silly  dove  without  heart : 
they  call  to  Egypt,  they  go  to  Assyria. 

A  "  silly  dove  "  means  one  open  to  seductive  influences— easily 
drawn  into  the  fatal  snare.  So,  "  without  heart,"  means  without 
wisdom  or  sense  to  suspect  and  avoid  danger.  Ephraim  plunges 
into  danger,  as  appears  by  his  sending  to  Egypt  for  help  and  going 
to  Assyria.  This  was  putting  his  head  within  the  jaws  of  the  lion. 
God  had  warned  him  against  this  course ;  he  would  not  hear. 

12.  When  they  shall  go,  I  will  spread  my  net  upon 
them ;  I  will  bring  them  down  as  the  fowls  of  the 
heaven ;  I  will  chastise  them,  as  their  congregation  hath 
heard. 

With  the  figure  of  the  dove  still  before  the  mind,  the  Lord  says 
— "  "When  they  fly  off  to  Assyria  or  Egypt  for  help  I  will  spread 
my  net  over  them ;  I  will  bring  them  down  as  by  the  shafts  of  the 
fowler ;  I  will  chastise  them,  as  hath  been  heard  from  the  lips  of  the 
prophets  in  their  congregation,"  where  those  prophetic  messages 
were  publicly  read. 

13.  Woe  unto  them  !  for  they  have  fled  from  me : 
destruction  unto  them  !  because  they  have  transgressed 
against  me:  though  I  have  redeemed  them,  yet  they 
have  spoken  lies  against  me. 

"Fled  "  still  keeps  up  the  figure  of  the  dove.  The  people  utter- 
ly turned  away  from  God,  and  this  became  their  ruin.  God  had 
redeemed  them  often  from  their  enemies — from  Pharaoh,  and 
from  the  strong  nations  on  their  borders ;  yet  they  would  prove 
false  to  all  their  professions  of  penitence  and  fidelity. In  the  origi- 
nal the  verb  translated  "have  redeemed,"  is  in  the  tense  commonly 
called  the  future,  but  perhaps  better,  the  imperfect  or  incomplete — 
indicating  in  this  case  not  only  that  God  had  redeemed  them,  but 
would  now  and  hereafter — this  being  the  permanent  state  of  his 
mind  toward  them.  The  clause  might  be  fitly  paraphrased, 
"  Though  I  would  gladly  redeem  them  at  any  time,  as  I  have  often 
done  already,  yet  they  only  speak  lies  against  me." 

The  passage  puts  in  forcible  contrast  the  loving  faithfulness  of 
God,  still  warm  and  sure,  on  the  one  hand ;  and,  on  the  other,  the 
treachery  and  utter  infidelity  of  his  people.  The  original  makes 
this  contrast  the  more  palpable  by  writing  out  in  full  the  pronouns 
"I"  and  "they."     These  pronouns   are  not  usually  written  in 

Hebrew  except  for  the  sake  of  emphasis. "  Eedeemed  "  is  the 

usual  word  for  the  deliverance  God  wrought  for  his  people  from 
Egypt.     (See  Dent.  7:  8,  and  13 :  5,  and  Micah  6  :  4.) 


40  HOSEA.— CHAP.  VII. 

14.  And  they  have  not  cried  unto  me  with  their 
heart,  when  they  howled  upon  their  beds :  they  assem- 
ble themselves  for  corn  and  wine,  and  they  rebel  against 
me. 

Under  their  affliction,  when  they  howled  upon  their  beds  in 
their  anguish,  they  would  not  sincerely  cry  unto  God.  They  as- 
sembled in  their  idol  temples  to  implore  corn  and  wine  of  their 
false  gods;  and  so  they  rebelled  yet  the  more  grievously  against 

Jehovah. The  last  three  verbs,  "howl,"  "assemble,"  "rebel," 

are  in  the  imperfect — incomplete  tense,  implying  not  only  that  they 
had,  but  icould  yet.  They  were  doomed  to  "howl;  "  it  was  fully 
in  their  heart  to  "assemble,"  and  to  "rebel." 

15.  Though  I  have  bound  and  strengthened  their 
arms,  yet  do  they  imagine  mischief  against  me. 

The  word  rendered  "  bound  "  means  to  chasten  and  correct.  God 
had  in  this  way  taught  them,  and  he  had  also  made  their  arm  strong 
in  war;  yet  they  only  do  and  will  plot  revolt  and  wrong  against 
him.  Here  also  the  last  verb  is  in  the  imperfect,  denoting  a  state 
of  mind  yet  active  and  fixed. 

16.  They  return,  but  not  to  the  Most  High :  they  are 
like  a  deceitful  bow:  their  princes  shall  fall  by  the 
sword  for  the  rage  of  their  tongue :  this  shall  he  their 
derision  in  the  land  of  Egypt. 

If  they  turned,  in  any  sense,  it  was  not  to  the  Most  High.  The 
original  most  naturally  reads,  "  They  will  turn  to  a  no-god  " — to 
one  not  the  Most  High,  but  the  opposite — one  infinitely  low  and 
mean.  So  in  the  words,  Lo-Ammi,  Lo-Knhamah,  the  negative 
particle  gives  the  opposite  sense — a  people  rejected  from  being  mine 
— to  whom  mercy  is  denied. "  A  deceitful  bow  "  makes  the  ar- 
row miss  the  mark,  and  therefore  cannot  be  trusted.-  So  with  Is- 
rael.  "  The  rage  of  their  tongue"  is  their  insolence  of  language, 

probably  in  boasting  of  help  from  Egypt,  despite  of  God's  warning 
to  the  contrary.  When  they  shall  have  come  into  Egypt,  captive 
and  weak,  this  proud  boasting  will  be  their  special  derision.  Hoshea, 
the  last  king  of  the  ten  tribes,  sought  help  from  Egypt  against  the 
king  of  Assyria,  but  only  to  his  shame  and  ruin.  (2  Kings  1 7 :  4.) 
— -So  shall  it  ever  be  with  all  who  depart  from  God ! 


iiosea.— chap.  vin.  41 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

Iseael  is  still  the  subject  of  rebuke,  and  of  threatened  judgment 
—the  prophet  bringing  forth  to  view  her  sins,  her  resort  to  idol  gods 
and  to  foreign  alliances,  to  the  rejection  of  her  own  ever-living 
God,  and  showing  that  this  policy  must  be  utterly  ruinous. 

1.  Set  the  trumpet  to  thy  mouth.  He  shall  come  as 
an  eagle  against  the  house  of  the  Loed,  because  they 
have  transgressed  my  covenant,  and  trespassed  against 
my  law. 

This  verse  is  remarkably  in  the  peculiar  style  of  Iiosea — abrupt 
and  bold.  "  To  thy  mouth  the  trumpet ;  "  [the  foe  comes  down] 
"as  an  eagle  upon  the  house  of  the  Lord,  because  they  [my  peo- 
ple] have  broken  my  covenant  and  sinned  against  my  law." 

The  blast  of  the  trumpet,  long  and  loud,  was  the  alarm  for  war. 
The  coming  of  the  foe  is  compared  with  the  swoop  of  the  eagle, 
when,  from  his  lofty  height,  he  comes  down  upon  the  temple.  This 
coming  down  on  the  temple  may  suggest  that  even  this  sacred  sym- 
bol of  Jehovah's  presence  in  the  land  cannot  shield  it  from  the 
fierce  invader. 

The  eagle  in  his  flight  is  frequently,  in  Scripture,  a  symbol  of 
swiftness  and  of  terrible  conquest.  Thus,  Dent.  28:49:  "The 
Lord  shall  bring  a  nation  against  thee  from  far,  from  the  ends  of 
the  earth,  as  swift  as  the  eagle  flieth."     Also,  Lam.  4:19:  "Our 

persecutors  are  swifter  than  the  eagles  of  heaven." This  fearful 

foe  comes  because  the  nation  has  so  utterly  apostatized  from  their 
God. 

2.  Israel  shall  cry  unto  me,  My  God,  we  know  thee. 
Grievously  as  they  had  departed  from  God,  they  still  made  high 

religious  professions,  vainly  claiming  to  know  the  true  God.  So  in 
later  times  they  said,  "We  have  Abraham  to  our  father."  "Have 
we  not  prophesied  in  thy  name  ?  " 

The  English  translation  renders  it  "  shall  cry"  as  if  the  thought 
were  future  only.  The  Hebrew  imperfect  rather  means  the  past 
running  on  into  the  future.     They  have  done,  and  still  do. 

3.  Israel  hath  cast  off  the  thing  that  is  good:  the 
enemy  shall  pursue  him. 

The  repetition  of  the  name  "  Israel "  is  expressive.  The  same 
people,  Israel,  who  claim  to  know  the  true  God,  have,  in  truth, 
scornfully  repelled  call  that  is  good ;  i.  e.  both  God  and  his  blessings. 
Hence,  enemies  shall  pursue  him ;  or,  as  the  original  word  means, 
chase  him  down. 

The  verb  rendered  "  cast  off"  has,  for  its  primary  sense,  to  be 


42  HOSEA.— CHAP.  VIII. 

foul,  nauseous,  loathsome ;  then,  to  reject  and  cast  off  as  loathsome. 
The  latter  is  the  sense  here.  "With  loathing  has  this  Israel,  who 
claims  to  know  me,  spurned  away  all  good,  even  God  himself. 

4.  They  have  set  up  kings,  but  not  by  me  :  they  have 
made  princes,  and  I  knew  it  not :  of  their  silver  and 
their  gold  have  they  made  them  idols,  that  they  may  be 
cut  off. 

From  Jeroboam  of  ISTebat  onward  they  have  set  up  kings  after 
their  own  heart,  with  no  regard  to  God's  will.  So  of  their  princes ; 
they  have  made  them,  and  without  my  approval — the  word  "  know  " 
being  used  here  in  this  not  infrequent  sense. 

They  had  made  idol  images  out  of  their  silver  and  gold,  to  the 
end  that  they  might  be  cut  off;  i.e.  not  of  tlicir  intention,  but 
"of  God's  purpose,  and  of  both  natural  and  actual  result.  The  ruin 
of  the  nation  was  both  a  righteous  and  a  natural  retribution  for  this 
sin — natural  because  idolatry  and  its  associate  vices  were  essential 
rottenness  in  the  body  politic. 

5.  Thy  calf,  O  Samaria,  hath  cast  thee  off;  mine  an- 
ger is  kindled  against  them :  how  long  will  it  he  ere 
they  attain  to  innocency  ? 

"  Thy  calf,  Samaria,"  is  the  golden  one  set  up  by  Jeroboam  (see 
1  Kings  12  :  2G-33),  out  of  which  grew  the  idol  worship  of  the  king- 
dom of  the  ten  tribes.  Samaria,  the  capital,  here  represents  the 
whole  kingdom  ;  the  calf  was  properly  theirs. 

The  verb  rendered  "cast  off  "is  the  same  that  is  used  and  so 
rendered  in  v.  3,  but  manifestly  here  with  a  slight  modification 
of  meaning; — there,  in  the  sense  of  repelling  with  loathing;  here, 
in  the  sense  of  being  loathsome,  abominable.  There  is  no  word 
for  "thee,"  as  found  in  the  English  translation,  which  unfortunately 

fails  to  give  the  true  sense. There  is  great  force  and  beauty  in 

this  play  upon  the  two  kindred  meanings  of  the  same  word.  Thus, 
v.  3 :  "  With  loathing  lias  Israel  rejected  God  and  all  real  good;  " 
v.  5  :  "Truly  and  intensely  loathsome  is  thy  calf,  Samaria."  Thou 
hast  thrust  from  thee  thy  God  and  all  his  blessings,  as  things  loath- 
some ;  the  really  loathsome  thing  is  thy  calf. 

To  this  construction  the  next  clause  fits  perfectly:  "Mine  anger 

is  kindled  against  the  worshippers  of  that  abominable  calf." The 

last  clause  is  literally  rendered,  "  How  long  will  they  be  impotent 
as  to  moral  innocence? "  i.  e.  with  no  recuperative  moral  power  to 

return  to  sense,  and  to  the  reasonable  wTorship  of  the  true  God  ? 

In  how  many  cases,  throughout  all  ages,  must  a  holy  and  compas- 
sionate God  deplore  the  same  moral  impotence  in  wicked  men! 
Inasmuch  as  God  was  constantly  acting  upon  them  toward  "inno- 
cency," we  must  understand  this  verse  to  imply  that  there  was  no 
conscience,  and  no  moral  sensibility  in  them,  to  respond  healthfully 
under  the  divine  efforts  made  for  their  recovery. 


HOSEA.— CHAP.  VIII.  43 

6.  For  from  Israel  was  it  also  :  the  workman  made 
it ;  therefore  it  is  not  God :  but  the  calf  of  Samaria 
shall  be  broken  in  pieces. 

The  aggravation  of  this  case  was  that  the  calf  "  came  out  from 
Israel " — from  God's  chosen  people.  "  A  workman  made  it "  with 
his  human  fingers,  so  that  it  is  no  god  at  all.  *  On  the  contrary,  ac- 
cording to  the  expressive  Hebrew,  "it  shall  become  fragments." 

The  prophets  were  wont  to  expose  the  ineffable  folly  of  idol- wor- 
ship and  of  all  trust  in  idols,  by  referring  to  their  origin  as  nothing 
higher  or  other  than  human  workmanship.  A  mere  man  made  it, 
made  all  there  is  of  it ;  and  can  that  senseless,  helpless  thing  be  God  ? 

7.  For  they  have  sown  the  wind,  and  they  shall  reap 
the  whirlwind :  it  hath  no  stalk  :  the  bnd  shall  yield  no 
meal :  if  so  be  it  yield,  the  strangers  shall  swallow  it  np. 

They— the  idol-worshippers — in  forsaking  the  true  God  for 
idols,  have  sown  the  wind  ;  and  how  vain  a  thing  this  is,  any  one 

will  see  who  will  suppose  himself  actually  attempting  to  do  it. 

The  passage  becomes  terribly  forcible  when  this  sowing  of  wind, 
vain  and  empty  as  it  would  seem  to  be,  brings  forth  for  its  harvest 
the  whirlwind — one  of  the  most  fearfully  destructive  agencies  in 
nature. 

The  idea  of  a  harvest  is  still  kept  up,  and  the  prophet  proceeds 
to  say,  "  There  is  no  stalk  to  it ;  its  shoot  will  not  produce  meal ; 

or,  if  it  should,  foreigners  shall  devour  it." "Strangers,"  in  the 

Bible,  are  always  foreigners ;  not  merely  those  with  whom  we  have 
no  personal  acquaintance. 

8  Israel  is  swallowed  up  :  now  shall  they  be  among 
the  Gentiles  as  a  vessel  wherein  is  no  pleasure. 

The  last  verb  of  the  verse  preceding  gives  the  leading  thought 
of  this  verse.  All  Israel  is  "  swallowed  up ;  "  not  only  will  a  foreign 
foe  swallow  up  all  the  harvests  of  the  land ;  the  very  nation  is 

swallowed  up,  and  its  nationality  is  to  become  extinct. "Now," 

i.  e.  shortly,  they  shall  be  among  the  nations  as  a  vessel  of  no 
value,  for  which  nobody  cares;  a  potsherd,  a  piece  of  broken 
crockery,  simply  useless. 

9.  For  they  are  gone  up  to  Assyria,  a  wild  ass  alone 
by  himself :  Ephraim  hath  hired  lovers. 

As  showing  how  low  they  have  sunk  in  general  esteem  among 
the  nations  of  their  time,  the  prophet  goes  on  to  say,  "  They  have 
gone  to  Assyria  for  help  " — wild,  wayward,  solitary  and  friendless 
as  the  wild  ass  that  has  no  affinities  for  other  animals,  and  little,  at 
best,  for  his  own  species. 

In  the  words  "Ephraim  hath  hired  lovers,"  the  idea  of  his 
marriage  relations  to  Jehovah  reappears.  This  going  to  other  na- 
tions and  not  to  God  for  help,  is  the  baseness  of  an  adulteress,  for- 


44  ROSEA.— CHAP.  VIII. 

saking  the  home  and  the  love  of  her  husband,  and  sunk  so  low- 
that,  instead  of  being  hired  for  prostitution,  she  herself  hires  her 
paramours.  Ephraim  in  his  distress  goes  for  help,  not  to  his  God, 
who  would  have  joyfully  relieved  him  with  no  thought  of  pay,  but 
to  heathen  nations,  and  pays  them  enormously.  See  a  case  of  such 
exaction,  2  Kings  15: 19,  20,  where  Menahem,  king  of  Israel,  gave 
to  Pul  of  Assyria  one  thousand  talents  of  silver,  and  "  exacted  the 
money  of  Israel,  even  of  all  the  mighty  men  of  wealth,  of  each 
man  fifty  shekels  of  silver,  to  give  to  the  king  of  Assyria."  Hoshea 
also,  the  last  king,  paid  tribute,  2  Kings  17:3. 

10.  Yea,  though,  they  have  hired  among  the  nations, 
now  will  I  gather  them,  and  they  shall  sorrow  a  little 
for  the  burden  of  the  king  of  princes. 

This  verse  has  perplexed  commentators,  especially  because  of  the 
difficulty  of  determining  the  root  and  the  exact  sense  of  the  verb 
rendered,  in  our  version,  "  sorrow."  Without  entering  upon  minute 
Hebrew  criticism,  let  it  suffice  that  I  find  here  threatening,  not 
promise,  the  former  only  being  in  harmony  with  the  strain  of  the 
context ;  and  therefore  I  derive  the  verb  from  the  root  *  which 
means  to  writhe,  to  be  in  pain,  etc.  The  sense  of  the  passage  then 
is,  "Although  Ephraim  hires  foreign  help  [in  the  line  of  ungodly 
national  alliances],  yet  now  will  1  gather  them"  (i.e.  group  them 
all  under  this  scourge),  "  and  they  shall  soon  be  in  anguish  under 
the  burden  of  exactions  imposed  by  the  king  of  princes." 

This  "king  of  princes  "  is  the  Assyrian  who  said  (Isa.  10:  8), 
"Are  not  my  princes  altogether  kings?  "  Several  kingdoms  were 
then  his  tributaries. 

The  received  version  unfortunately  gives  the  sense  of  "  sorrow- 
ing a  little"  instead  of  sorrowing  severely,  very  soox,  as  the 
original  obviously  means.  The  marginal  reading — "in  a  little 
while  "—should  have  gone  into  tho  text.  The  verb  is  very  inten- 
sive. 

11.  Because  Ephraim  hath  made  many  altars  to  sin, 
altars  shall  be  unto  him  to  sin. 

The  verb  rendered  "to  sin,"  in  the  phrases  "made  altars  to 
sin  ;  "  "  altars  shall  be  to  him  to  sin;  " — is  the  same  in  both  clauses. 
If  taken  in  precisely  the  same  sense  in  both  cases,  it  would  give 
this  as  the  meaning  of  the  verse — "Because  Ephraim  hasmultipled 
idol  altars  for  purposes  of  sin,  they  shall  be  to  him  the  occasion  of 
more  and  greater  sin." 

I  suggest  a  slight  modification  in  the  sense  of  this  verb  on  its 
second  occurrence — a  usage  quite  common  in  Hosea.  This  verb, 
to  sin,  means  primarily,  to  miss  the  mark,  to  misdirect,  and  conse- 
quently to  fail  of  one's  object,  and  so  to  reap  disaster  rather  than 


nosEA.— chap.  vm.  45 

profit.  Modifying  this  verb,  therefore,  on  its  second  occurrence, 
we  have  this  sense — "  Because  Ephraim  multiplied  altars  for  sin, 
altars  shall  be  to  him  for  ruin."'  He  meant  to  deviate  from  right: 
he  shall  thereby,  in  fact,  miss  happiness.  He  meant  to  wander 
from  God  :  he  shall  really  wander  from  all  good. 

Such  a  play  upon  two  well-known  senses  of  the  same  word  is 
one  of  the  beauties  of  the  style  of  Hosea.  The  verb  rendered 
"cast  off,"  in  vs.  3  and  5  above,  is  another  case  in  this  chapter. 
To  make  the  mutual  relation  of  "cast  off,"  v.  3,  to  "cast  off,"  v. 
5,  the  more  obvious,  the  verb  in  each  case  stands  at  the  head  of  its 
verse;  as  in  the  verse  before  us  correspondingly,  "to  sin  "is  the 
closing  word  in  each  clause. 

12.  I  have  written  to  him  the  great  things  of  my 
law,  but  they  v/ere  counted  as  a  strange  thing. 

This  had  been  the  chief  aggravation  of  the  sin  of  Ephraim.  God 
had  sent  to  him  in  writing  the  great  things  of  his  law — its  great 
truths,  principles,  and  rules  of  life;  yet  he  had  practically  accounted 
them  as  foreign  and  unworthy  of  his  thought  or  care.  This  is  the 
monster  sin  of  all  those  in  Christian  lands  who  repel  the  light  of 
God's  word,  and  sin  on  as  if  no  Bible  had  ever  been  given  them. 
Jesus  said  (John.  15  :  22),  "  If  I  had  not  come  and  spoken  unto 
them,  they  had  not  had  sin ;  but  now  they  have  no  cloak  [excuse] 
for  their  sin." 

The  original  verb,  "  have  written,"  is  in  the  tense  which  implies 
incomplete  action.     God  had  written,  and  had  yet  more  to  write. 

13.  They  sacrifice  flesh  for  the  sacrifice  of  mine  offer- 
ings, and  eat  it;  but  the  Lord  accepteth  them  not;  now 
will  lie  remember  their  iniquity,  and  visit  their  sins : 
they  shall  return  to  Egypt. 

"  As  to  the  sacrifices  of  things  dedicated  to  me,  they  sacrifice 
flesh,  and  then  eat ; — Jehovah  does  not  accept  them  " — i.  e.  abhors 
them.  The  sacrifices  referred  to  were  professedly  made  to  God, 
but  made  before  the  golden  calves,  or  in  the  worship  of  Baal  or 
other  idols.  It  should  be  remembered  that  Jeroboam's  original 
plan  was  professedly  to  change  tho>  place  and,  slightly,  the  form  of 
worship,  rather  than  the  God  to  be  worshipped.  Bringing  forth 
his  two  calves  of  gold,  he  said  :  "It  is  too  much  for  you  to  go  up 
to  Jerusalem ;  behold  thy  gods,  O  Israel,  which  brought  thee  up 

out  of  the  land  of  Egypt." By  a  form  of  retribution,  strikingly  in 

line  with  the  sin  which  was  borrowed  from  Egypt,  they  were 
doomed  to  return  to  Egypt.  Some  of  them  soon  tied  thither  to 
escape  the  Assyrian  arms,  and,  contrary  to  their  intentions,  never 
returned  a*gain  to  their  native  land.  The  whole  nation  returned 
again  to  a  state  of  captivity  and  oppression  analogous  to  their 
former  one  in  Egypt. 


40  HOSEA.— CHAP.  IX. 

14.  For  Israel  hath  forgotten  his  Maker,  and 
builcleth  temples ;  and  Judah  hath  multiplied  fenced 
cities :  but  I  will  send  a  fire  upon-  his  cities,  and  it 
shall  devour  the  palaces  thereof. 

These  temples  were  for  their  idols. — The  sin  of  Judah,  in  multi- 
plying fenced  (fortified)  cities,  lay  in  making  strong  cities  rather 
than  the  Almighty  God  their  hope  and  refuge.  God  would  soon 
send  a  fire  upon  their  strong  cities  and  consume  all  their  lofty 
palaces. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

Epiieaim  is  still  the  subject;  the  strain  of  rebuke  for  sin  is  more 
and  more  mingled  with  announcements  of  near  impending  judg- 
ment. 

1.  Rejoice  not,  O  Israel,  for  joy,  as  oilier  people  :  for 
thou  hast  gone  a  whoring  from  thy  God,  thou  hast 
loved  a  reward  upon  every  corn-floor. 

The  first  clause  means  precisely — "  Rejoice  not,  O  Israel,  unto 
the  point  of  exultation,  as  other  nations  may."  Comparatively 
speaking,  it  was  legitimate  for  the  latter  to  exult  in  their  prosper- 
ity, and  in  the  abundance  of  their  fruits  ;  but  not  so  for  Israel.  She 
had  sinned  against  so  much  light  and  against  obligations  so  sacred, 
it  was  madness  for  her  to  exult  in  her  blessings.    God  would  surely 

tear  them  away,  and  leave  her  to  desolation. So  terrible  a  thing 

it  is  to  sin  against  great  mercies !  He  who  docs  it  should  take  this 
admonition.  Rejoice  not  as  others  may  fitly  do,  for  there  will  soon 
be  an  utter  end  to  blessings  so  ungratefully  and  so  fatally  abused. 

The  idolatry  of  Israel  is  here,  as  heretofore,  spoken  of  as  adul- 
tery. The  original  word  for  "  reward  "  is  currently  used  for  the 
hire  of  harlots.  It  is  spoken  of  here  as  being  "  on  every  corn- 
floor," because,  like  the  heathen  about  them,  idolatrous  Israel  had 
sunk  so  low  as  to  attribute  her  corn  and  wine  to  Baal's  favor  and 
not  to  Jehovah's.  Hence  she  paid  her  offerings  to  Baal — here 
thought  of  as  the  harlot-hire  of  her  spiritual  adultery. 

2.  The  floor  and  the  winepress  shaU  not  feed  them, 
and  the  new  wine  shall  fail  in  her. 

Passing  from  the  sin  to  the  curse  for  sin,  God  declares  that  these 
blessings — the  fruits  of  the  earth — shall  fail  them.  Neither  the 
corn-floor  nor  the  wine-press  shall  supply  them  food ;  the  new 
wine  shall  prove  false — shall  lie  to  them,  as  the  original  has  it.  The 
last  words  ("in  her  ")  mean  either  in  the  wrinc-press,  or  in  the  land ; 
—sense,  shall  lie  to  the  people. 

3.  They  shall  not  dwell  in  the  Lokd's  land;  but 


ROSEA.— CHAP.  IX.  47 

Epliraim  shall  return  to  Egypt,  and  they  shall  eat  un- 
clean tilings  in  Assyria. 

The  land,  sacred  so  long  as  the  land  of  promise,  and  subsequent- 
ly so  long  the  land  of  Jehovah's  presence  and  power,  would  spew 
them  out  as  unfit  to  live  in  it.  Egypt  and  Assyria  were  their  only  fit 
abode.  It  would  seem  that  many  individuals  from  the  ten  tribes 
fled  to  Egypt  for  refuge  from  the  impending  storm  of  Assyrian  in- 
vasion, hoping  to  return  soon.  Others,  the  greater  portion,  were 
borne  away  into  Assyria,  and  there  doomed  to  eat  things  unclean 
and  abominable  to  a  Jew — fit  retribution  on  them  for  eating  so 
long  and  against  so  much  light,  in  idol  temples. 

4.  They  shall  not  offer  ^ins-offerings  to  the  Lokd, 
neither  shall  they  be  pleasing  unto  him :  their  sacrifices 
shall  he  unto  them  as  the  bread  of  mourners  ;  all  that  eat 
thereof  shall  be  polluted :  for  their  bread  for  their  soul 
shall  not  come  into  the  house  of  the  Loud. 

According  to  the  Mosaic  ritual  (Num.  15 :  5,  7, 10)  wine  was 
poured  out  in  certain  sacrifices.  The  prophet  here  says,  they  shall 
offer  it  no  more  to  the  Lord ;  if  they  do,  he  will  not  accept  it. 

"  The  bread  of  mourners  "  was  deemed  unclean,  as  was  also 

whatever  had  been  near  a  dead  body. "  Bread  for  their  soul " 

probably  means  bread  for  sustenance,  for  the  physical  life.  It  had 
been  customary  to  feast  upon  large  portions  of  what  was  offered  in 
sacrifice  to  God.  The  prophet  here  declares  that  this  shall  be  no 
longer.  The  food  for  their  subsistence  should  no  more  come  into 
the  sacred  temple  of  Jehovah.  He  could  no  longer  have  such 
fellowship  with  his  apostate  people  as  this  communion  in  bread 
would  imply. Another  construction  of  this  last  clause  (not  pre- 
ferred, however)  may  be  noticed. — Their  bread  shall  be  for  them- 
selves alone ;  it  shall  not  come  into  the  house  of  the  Lord.  So 
Gesenius  and  Henderson. 

5.  What  will  ye  do  in  the  solemn  day,  and  in  the 
day  of  the  feast  of  the  Lokd  ? 

A  rendering  more  true  to  the  original,  and  giving  better  the 
exact  sense,  would  be — "  What  will  ye  do  for  the  day  of  solemn 
assembly,  and  for  the  day  of  the  feast  of  the  Lord? "  They  could 
no  more  have  them  in  the  remote  land  of  their  captivity.  They 
would  sadly  miss  those  seasons  of  great  public  rejoicing.  (See 
Hos.  2 :  11.) 

6.  For,  lo,  they  are  gone  because  of  destruction : 
Egypt  shall  gather  them  up,  Memphis  shall  bury  them : 
the  pleasant  places  for  their  silver,  nettles  shall  possess 
them  :  thorns  shall  he  in  their  tabernacles. 

The  reason  why  they  could  not  have  those  national  festivals  is 


48  HOSEA.— CHAP.  IX. 

given — For  they  have  fled  their  country  because  of  impending 
destruction.  They  shall  die  and  be  buried  in  Egypt — whither  some 
had  fled,  never  thinking  to  lay  their  bones  there. — Memphis  is 
specially  named  because  it  was  a  noted  burying-place  of  Egyptians, 

as  its  tombs  and  mummies  are  proving  at  this  day. The  clause 

rendered  "pleasant  places  for  their  silver,"  seems  to  mean,  their 
costly  and  most  valued  property — the  original  words  making  prom- 
inent the  two  ideas — desire  and  money, — that  which  men  love,  and 
which  costs  silver.  Those  things  nettles  shall  inherit,  and  of 
course,  occupy.  Desolation  comes  over  whatever  was  fairest  and 
most  valued. 

7.  The  days  of  visitation  are  come,  the  days  of  recom- 
pense are  come ;  Israel  shall  know  it :  the  prophet  is  a 
fool,  the  spiritual  man  is  mad,  for  the  multitude  of  thine 
iniquity,  and  the  great  hatred. 

This  "  visitation  "  is  for  judgment.     "  Eecompcnse,"  parallel  to 

it,  is  retribution  for  their    great  sin. -"Israel    shall  know  it" 

experimentally;  know  it  in  such  a  way  as  precludes  not  only  all 

mistake,  but  all  indifference  and  insensibility. The  "  prophet " 

here  must  be  the  false  one  who  had  misled  the  people.  He  is 
shown  to  be  a  fool  by  the  failure  of  all  his  predictions  and  prom- 
ises.  "The  spiritual  man" — literally,  "the  man  of  the  spirit1' — 

represents  the  class  who  professed  to  be  filled  with  some  super- 
human spirit,  but  were  utterly  far  from  God  and  his  Spirit.  These 
men  have  been  known  by  various  names — magicians,  sorcerers, 
soothsayers,  &c.,  down  to  "spiritists."  It  is  here  said  of  him  that 
he  is  "frantic,"  beside  himself,  because  of  the  greatness  of  their 
iniquity  (and  of  its  resulting  punishment),  and  of  the  great  hatred — 
i.  e.  felt  by  God  against  such  sin.  Its  sense  is — In  the  days  of  God's 
visitation,  the  false  prophets,  who  had  so  long  deceived  the  people, 
were  appalled,  their  folly  exposed,  and  themselves  driven  mad 
with  vexation,  chagrin,  and  shame,  before  the  dreadful  wrath  of 
Jehovah  upon  his  people. 

8.  The  watchman  of  Ephraim  was  with  my  God :  hut 
the  prophet  is  a  snare  of  a  fowler  in  all  his  ways,  and 
hatred  in  the  house  of  his  God. 

Our  translators  seem  to  have  understood  the  first  clause  to 
speak  of  God's  true  prophets,  and  as  standing  on  the  side  of  God. 
But  both  the  context  and  the  grammatical  construction  oppose  their 
view.  The  course  of  thought  here  respects  the  false,  not  the  true 
prophet,  and  the  form  of  the  word  requires  us  to  render,  not  "  the 
watchman  of  Ephraim,"  but  "Ephraim  was  watching,*'  i.  e.  look- 
ing for  and  awaiting  good  from  with  my  God.  Despite  of  his  great 
sin,  Ephraim  was  full  of  hope  and  expectation  of  good  from  Jeho- 
vah— probably  with  reference  to  help  against  their  foreign  enemies 
— which  help  might  have  come  had  not  the  false  prophet  been  as 


nosEA.— chap.  ix.  4.9 

the  snare  of  a  fowler  over  all  his  ways,  and  the  occasion  of  God's 

hating  them  the  more  even  for  their  coming  into  his  temple. In 

this  manner  repeatedly  is  this  grievous  apostasy  of  the  people  as- 
cribed largely  to  the  terribly  pernicious  influence  of  corrupt  priests 
and  false  prophets.  Truly  there  can  be  no  power  for  evil  so  active 
and  so  fatal  as  a  corrupt  ministry — as  flagrant  sin  in  those  who 
speak  for  God  and  of  him  to  men. 

9.  They  liave  deeply  corrupted  themselves,  as  in  the 
days  of  Gibeah :  therefore  he  will  remember  their  ini- 
quity, he  will  visit  their  sins. 

The  sin  of  Gibeah  at  the  time  referred  to  may  be  seen,  Judg. 
19:22-25.  An  appalling  history!  Alas  for  the  dreadful  corrup- 
tion of  the  land  of  Ephraim,  if  it  was  fitly  compared  to  those 
scenes  in  Gibeah  of  Benjamin !  Good  reason  why  God  should  re- 
member their  iniquity  and  visit  retribution  upon  the  whole  land! 

10.  I  found  Israel  like  grapes  in  the  wilderness ;  I 
saw  your  fathers  as  the  first  ripe  in  the  fig-tree  at  her 
first  time :  hut  they  went  to  Baai-peor,  and  separated 
themselves  unto  that  shame;  and  their  abominations 
were  according  as  they  loved. 

The  true  light  for  seeing  their  sins  can  he  had  only  through 
contrast  with  the  bright  days  of  their  early  national  history.    Hence 

this  historical  sketch. As  one  finds  grapes  in  the  wilderness, 

himself  weary  and  hungry,  and  not  expecting  luscious  fruit  amid 
such  barrenness,  and  therefore  is  filled  with  joy  at  the  discovery, 
so  the  Lord  found  Israel.  The  first  ripe  figs  in  their  first  bearing 
year  furnish  the  next  beautiful  figure.  But  the  fatal  mischief  was, 
they  went  after  idol  gods,  and  plunged  into  the  vices  associated 
with  idol  worship.     First  at  Baal-peor,  in  the  wilderness ;  see  Num. 

25. "  Separated  themselves  unto  that  shame,"  means  that  they 

set  themselves  apart  by  consecration  as  the  Nazarites  under  their 
vows — the  original  word  being  precisely  this — they  became  Naza- 
rites,  not  to  a  noble  principle  or  a  worthy  purpose,  but  to  that 
shame!  The  last  clause  thus — u  They  became  abominable,  like 
their  paramours,  lovers ;  "  referring  to  the  idol  gods  to  whom  they 

gave  their  homage. So  evermore  men  become  like  the  God  they 

worship  ;  abominable  and  vile  like  their  idols,  or  pure-minded  and 
loving,  like  Him  whose  nature  is  purity  and  whose  name  is  love. 

11.  As  for  Ephraim,  their  glory  shall  fly  away  like 
a  bird,  from  the  birth,  and  from  the  womb,  and  from 
the  conception. 

With  the  significance  of  the  word  Ephraim  in  mind,  viz.,  fruit- 
mi  in  offspring  (see  Gen.  41 :  52),  the  reader  will  readily  trace  the 

drift  of  thought  in  this  and  the  subsequent  verses. "  Ephraim," 

the  populous — "  their  glory  "  (a  dense  population),  "  shall  take  wings 
3 


50  HOSEA.— CHAP.  IX. 

as  a  bird,  so  that  there  shall  be  no  birth,  no  womb,  no  conception." 

This  construction  of  the  preposition  before  the  last  three  nouns 

is  admissible  by  usage  and  pertinent  to  the  course  of  thought.  The 
received  translation  gives  it  precisely  this  construction  in  the  next 
verse.  • 

12.  Though  they  bring  up  their  children,  yet  will  I 
bereave  them,  that  there  shall  not  be  a  man  left :  yea, 
woe  also  to  them  when  I  depart  from  them ! 

Literally  "  bereave  them  from  man,"  i.  e.  so  that  they  shall  not 
live  to  manhood ;  none  shall  come  to  man's  estate.  The  curse  of 
God's  departing  from  them  shall  foil  on  that  which  has  been  their 
chief  glory,  as  it  is  wont  to  do.  Barrenness  shall  take  the  place  of 
numerous  families  and  a  dense  population. 

13.  Ephraim,  as  I  saw  Tyrus,  is  planted  in  a  pleas- 
ant place  :  but  Ephraim  shall  bring  forth  his  children  to 
the  murderer. 

Ephraim  as  well  as  Tyre  had  a  delightful  country,  surroundings 
of  beauty  and  prosperity ;  but  what  can  these  avail  to  stay  the 

wrath  of  God  against  their  sin? The  language  in  this  verse  and 

the  next  is  plain. 

14.  Give  them,  O  Lord  :  what  wilt  thou  give  ?  give 
them  a  miscarrying  womb  and  dry  breasts. 

The  holy  indignation  of  the  prophet  is  kindled,  and  for  once  he 
gives  it  expression. 

15.  All  their  wickedness  is  in  Gilgal :  for  there  I 
hated  them :  for  the  wickedness  of  their  doings  I  will 
drive  them  out  of  mine  house,  I  will  love  them  no  more : 
all  their  princes  are  revolters. 

The  speaker  in  this  verse,  as  also  in  verse  13,  is  the  Lord. 

Gilgal,  as  was  remarked  on  Ilosea  4  :  15,  was  noted  for  its  idol  wor- 
ship. There  the  sins  of  the  nation  might  be  supposed  to  be  con- 
centrated. God  abhorred  this  great  sin,  and  in  this  sense  hated 
the  sinners — would  drive  them  from  his  temple  and  show  them  fa- 
vor no  more. Kefercnce  is  again  made  to  the  wicked  life  and 

pernicious  iniluence  of  the  chief  men,  all  of  whom  were  refrac- 
tory— rebels  against  God — this  being  the  sense  of  the  last  word  in 
the  verse. 

1G.  Ephraim  is  smitten,  their  root  is  dried  up,  they 
shall  bear  no  fruit :  yea,  though  they  bring  forth,  yet 
will  I  slay  even  the  beloved  fruit  of  their  womb. 

Ephraim  now  appears  under  the  figure  of  a  fruit-bearing  tree, 
smitten  -with  death,  dried  up,  to  bear  fruit  no  more.    Then  drop- 


IIOSEA.— CHAP.  x.  51 

ping,  or  rather  changing  the  figure,  God  declares  that  if  they  have 
children  born  to  them,  he  will  slay  even  their  dearest  and  most 

loved  offspring. So  terrible  are  the  curses  that  must  come  down 

on  those  who  sin  so  persistently,  and  against  so  great  light  and  so 
rich  mercies. 

17.  My  God  will  cast  them  away,  because  tliey  did 
not  hearken  unto  him:    and  they  shall  be  wanderers 

among  the  nations. 

"My  God  will  reject  them  from  being  his  people."  "They 
shall  be  wanderers  among  the  nations,"  with  no  settled  habitation, 
no  loved  home — a  prophecy  eminently  improbable  when  spoken, 
but  eminently  true  for  ages  on  ages.  The  ten  tribes  have  long 
since  lost  all  distinct  nationality.  Their  posterity,  if  yet  living,  are 
wandering  among  the  nations,  unknown  and  of  no  account  in  his- 
tory. Even  the  Jews  are  often  known  simply  as  "  wanderers." 
"  The  wandering  Jew  "  is  his  style,  both  in  common  parlance  and 

in  more  stately  history. So  signally  are  the  words  of  prophecy 

fulfilled,  and  so  terribly  do  the  judgments  of  God  scourge  and  deso- 
late those  whom  his  great  mercies  fail  to  reclaim ! 


CH'APTEE    X. 

TnE  same  general  subject  continues;  the  sin  of  Ephraim  and 
its  just  punishment,  vs.  1-11 ;  a  call  to  repentance  and  a  new  life, 
v.  12;  judgments  still  more  near  and  dire,  vs.  13-15. 

1.  Israel  is  an  empty  vine,  he  bringeth  forth  fruit 
unto  himself :  according  to  the  multitude  of  his  fruit  he 
hath  increased  the  altars  ;  according  to  the  goodness  of 
his  land  they  have  made  goodly  images. 

I  paraphrase  thus  :  "  A  vine  pouring  itself  abroad,  in  luxurious 
growth,  is  Israel;  he  makes  fruit  for  himself;  according  to  the 
abundance  of  his  fruit  he  has  multiplied  altars ;  according  to  the 
goodness  of  his  land  have  they,  the  people,  made  good  images." 

The  word  rendered  "  empty  "  does  not  appear  anywhere  in  use 
in  the  intransitive  sense  of  being  empty,  but  does  sometimes  in  the 
transitive  sense  of  making  empty.     Its  usual  and  primary  sense  is 

that  of  pouring  out  abroad. The  course  of  thought  forbids  the 

sense  of  barren,  fruitless,  since  the  very  point  made  is  the  abundant 
wealth  of  Israel,  perverted  the  more  to  idolatry  and  sin.  The  more 
God  gives  them,  the  more  they  give  to  idols;  the  richer  their  land 

and  its  products,  the  richer  shrines  and  altars  go  up  for  Baal. 

So  sinful  men  everywhere  are  wont  to  pervert  the  earthly  gifts  of 
God,  till  more  gifts  only  make  them  more  wicked  and  more  un- 
grateful to  the  Giver ;  and  so  more  mercy  in  this  line  becomes  only 


52  IIOSEA.— CHAP.  X. 

the  greater  curse,  and  sinners  themselves  compel  their  God  to  turn 
from  blessings  to  retribution. 

2.  Their  heart  is  divided ;  now  shall  they  he  found 
faulty :  he  shall  break  down  their  altars,  he  shall  spoil 
their  images. 

"  Their  heart  is  smooth,"  i.  e.,  treacherous,  deceitful,  the  verb 
here  having  this  its  primary  sense.  Among  the  various  meanings 
of  this  word  the  idea  of  dividing  is  secondary  and  remote,  grow- 
ing out  of  the  use  of  smooth  stones  in  casting  the  lot  for  the  pur- 
pose of  dividing  between  rival  claimants.  There  seems  to  be  no 
good  reason  here  for  departing  from  the  primary  sense  of  the  word. 

"jSTow  shall  they  be  punished,"  not  merely  "found  faulty." 

The  verb  means  first  to  sin,  and  then  naturally  to  suffer  for  sin,  to 

bear  punishment,  as  here. "  He"  who  "  shall  break  down  their 

altars,"  &c,  is  God,  named  last  in  the  closing  verse  of  the  previous 

chapter,  but  naturally  present  in  thought  in  this  connection. It 

is  altogether  legitimate  that  his  judgments  should  fall  on  the  idol 
altars  and  images,  as  here  said. 

3.  For  now  they  shall  say,  We  have  no  king,  because 
we  feared  not  the  Lord  ;  what  then  should  a  king  do 
to  us  ? 

The  last  clause  should  read — "As  to  the  king,  what  shall  he  do 

for  us?  i.  <?.,  to  help  us. The  time  to  which  this  applies  would 

naturally  be  in  some  of  the  seasons  of  anarchy  when  they  had  no 
king,  and  the  tone  is  that  of  discouragement,  tending  to  despair. 
Now  they  shall  say,  k'  We  have  no  king,  for  we  have  not  feared  the 
Lord,"  and  therefore  this  judgment  of  anarchy  has  come  upon  us; 
what  help  now  can  we  have  from  the  king? 

4.  They  have  spoken  words,  swearing  falsely  in 
making  a  covenant:  thus  judgment  springeth  up  as 
hemlock  in  the  farrows  of  the  field. 

"  They  speak  mere  words  "  (unreliable),  "  swearing  falsely,  mak- 
ing covenants,"  in  both  of  which  their  words  go  for  nothing,  and 
hence  "  the  judgments  of  God  spring  up  as  the  poisonous  poppy  in 
the  furrows  of  the  field."  This  plant  was  peculiar  for  spreading 
rapidly,  especially  in  a  ploughed  field,  and  for  being  injurious  as  a 
poison.  In  this  view  the  point  of  the  figure  would  be  the  rapidity 
with  which  the  judgments  of  God  on  the  people  spring  to  light  on 
every  hand,  and  the  fearful  devastations  and  mischiefs  they  bring 
upon  the  land. Or  possibly  the  sense  may  be — Justice  as  deter- 
mined among  men,  either  publicly  or  privately,  is  perverted  to  be- 
come as  the  deadly  poisonous  poppy  in  the  furrows  of  the  field. 

This  figure  appears  twice  in  Amos,  viz.,  5  :  7  and  6  :  12.  "  Ye 
who  turn  judgment  to  wormwood,  and  leave  off  righteousness  in 
the  earth."     "For  ye  have  turned  judgment  into  gall"  (the  same 


IIOSEA.— CHAP.  x.  53 

Ilebrew  words  as  in  Hosea),   "  and  the  fruit  of  righteousness  into 

hemlock." Now  since  Amos  prophesied  somewhat  earlier  than 

Hosea,  the  latter  may  have  taken  up  this  figure  from  his  brother 
prophet,  changing  it  only  as  a  mind  of  higher  poetic  culture  and  a 
more  vivid  imagination  would  naturally  do. 

5.  The  inhabitants  of  Samaria  shall  fear  because  of 
the  calves  of  Beth-aven:  for  the  people  thereof  shall 
mourn  over  it,  and  the  priests  thereof  that  rejoiced  on 
it,  for  the  glory  thereof,  because  it  is  departed  from  it. 

Beth-aven,  house  of  idols  (literally,  of  nothings,  nonentities),  is 
instead  of  Bethel,  house  of  God,— the  name  being  changed  to  indi- 
cate the  fearful  fact  that  the  people  had  ceased  to  be  a  house  of 
God,  and  had  become  a  house  of  idols,  after  Jeroboam  of  Nebat  set 
up  his  golden  calf  there.  The  sentiment  of  this  verse  is,  that  the 
people  of  Samaria  should  be  put  in  fear  because  of  these  calves.  So 
far  from  finding  peace  and  help  from  their  new  gods,  they  should 

find  only  peril  and  alarm. "  The  people  thereof  "  who  "  shall 

mourn  over  it "  are  the  worshippers  of  these  calves.  The  next 
clause  should  read — "And  his  priests"  (those  of  the  calf)  "shall 
be  thrilled  with  terror,"  or  perhaps  "shall  leap  as  men  fran- 
tic with    terror,    on    account    of  them,    because  of    his  glory " 

(that  of  the  calf),    "  for  it  is  departed  as  into  captivity." 

Sentiment — shame,  confusion,  and  horror  shall  come  on  all  the 
worshippers  and  priests  of  these  calves,  under  the  force  of  God's 
awful  judgments  on  the  land  for  this  sin. 

6.  It  shall  be  also  carried  unto  Assyria,  for  a  present 
to  king  Jareb  :  Ephraim  shall  receive  shame,  and  Israel 
shall  be  ashamed  of  his  own  counsel. 

"  It  "  (the  calf)  "  shall  be  carried  into  Assyria  for  a  present  to  the 
king  that  intervenes,"  i.  e.,  who  is  called  in  to  defend  the  kingdom 
against  the  Syrian  power,  but  who,  instead,  becomes  the  conqueror 
and  devastator  of  the  ten  tribes.  See  5  :  13.  Then  Ephraim  and 
Israel  shall  be  confounded  by  the  result  of  their  own  counsels. 
Their  expected  helper  becomes  their  actual  destroyer. 

7.  As  for  Samaria,  her  king  is  cut  off  as  the  foam 
upon  the  water. 

"  As  for  Samaria,  her  king  is  cut  off  as  chips  on  the  face  of  the 
waters  " — as  if  he  were  as  insignificant  as  a  floating  chip,  and  as 
easily  taken  away  and  destroyed.  The  original  word  demands  the 
sense  chip,  and  not  foam. 

8.  The  high  places  also  of  Aven,  the  sin  of  Israel, 
=hall  be  destroyed :  the  thorn  and  the  thistle  shall  come 
up  on  their  altars ;  and  they  shall  say  to  the  mountains, 
Cover  us  ;  and  to  the  hills,  Fall  on  us. 


54  IIOSEA.— CHAP.   X. 

"  Aven  "  is  here  the  Betli-aven  of  v.  5 — the  locality  of  one  of 
the  golden  calves — long  time  known  as  Bethel.  See  notes  on  4 :  15. 
Its  high  places,  on  which  idol  altars  and  temples  stood,  should  be 

destroyed. "  The  sin  of  Israel,"  is  said  of  the  calf  at  Bethel,  as 

being  the  occasion  and  manifestation  of  her  sin  of  idolatry.  The 
growth  of  thorns  and  thistles  in  places  once  so  much  frequented 
and  so  magnificent  in  works  of  art,  gives  a  vivid  sense  of  utter 
desolation.  The  doom  of  the  people  would  be  so  terrible  that  they 
would  choose  death  rather  than  life,  and  hence  would  cry  to  the 
mountains,  "Cover  us,"  and  to  the  hills,  "Fall  on  us!" — strong 
poetic  conceptions,  but  terribly  significant  of  their  awful  doom. 

9.  O  Israel,  thou  hast  sinned  fuorn.  the  days  of  Gib- 
eah :  there  they  stood :  the  battle  in  Gibeah  against 
the  children  of  iniquity  did  not  overtake  them. 

"  More  than  in  the  days  of  Gibeah,  hast  thou  sinned,  Israel ;  " — 
thy  sins  are  greater  than  theirs;  for  which,  see  Judges,  chap.  19- 
21.  Of  course,  her  doom  is  more  terrible.  "There  (in  Gibeah) 
they  stood;  "a  remnant,  even  six  hundred  men,  survived,  from 
whom  the  tribe  was  again  filled  up.  The  battle  in  Gibeah  against 
the  children  of  iniquity  (those  wicked  men)  did  not  overtake  and 
exterminate  them.  Ephraim  need  not  expect  to  come  oif  so  well, 
for  of  her  no  remnant  shall  survive  to  replace  the  fallen  and  rebuild 
the  kingdom. 

10.  It  is  in  my  desire  that  I  should  chastise  them ; 
and  the  people  shall  be  gathered  against  them,  when 
they  shall  bind  themselves  in  their  two  furrows. 

The  received  translation  of  the  last  clause  scarcely  gives  an 
intelligible  sense.  The  passage  has  vexed  commentators  the  more 
because  the  reading  of  the  original,  both  in  its  vowels  and  conso- 
nants, is  in  dispute. Omitting  the  details  of  this  matter,  suffice 

it  to  say  that  I  prefer  to  read  after  the  margin — sins  not  furrows, 
and  hence  to  render  the  entire  verse  thus : — 

"It  is  in  my  purpose  to  chastise  them,  and  the  nations  shall  be 
gathered  against  them  when  they  shall  be  bound  for  their  two 
sins,"—  these  sins  having  reference  to  the  two  golden  calves  at 
Bethel  and  at  Dan.  In  the  same  sense,  the  "  high  places  of  Aven" 
are  called  "  the  sin  of  Israel"  (v.  8).  The  idea  is  that,  to  chastise 
them,  God  will  bind  them  fast  because  of  these  sins  of  calf-worship, 
and  will  then  gather  the  nations  (Syrians  and  Assyrians)  together 

to  fall  upon  them. So  construed,  the    sense  is  vigorous,  and 

entirely  in  accordance  with  both  the  significance  of  the  several 
words  and  the  grammatical  construction. 

11.  And  Ephraim  is  as  an  heifer  that  is  taught,  and 
loveth  to  tread  out  the  corn,  but  I  passed  over  upon 
her  fair  neck:  I  will  make  Ephraim  to  ride;  Judah 
shall  plough,  and  Jacob  shall  break  his  clods. 


nosEA.-cn.vp.  x.  55 

To  understand  this  verse  readily,  we  need  to  bear  in  mind  that 
in  the  East,  cows  (heifers  also)  as  well  as  oxen  were  put  under  the 
yoke  and  to  the  plough.  They  were  also  used  for  threshing,  and 
under  the  Mosaic  law — "  Thou  shalt  not  muzzle  the  ox  that  tread- 
eth  out  the  corn  "  (Dent.  25 :  4),  the  latter  may  be  supposed  the 
more  pleasant  service.  Threshing,  moreover,  was  a  common  sym- 
bol for  the  exercise  of  oppressive  power,  or  for  the  infliction  of 

severe  suffering. Hence  I  render — "Ephraim  is  a  well-trained 

heifer,  loving  to  thresh  "  (*.  e.,  without  a  figure,  to  oppress),  "  but 
I  passed  along  over  the  beauty  of  her  neck  "  (never  yet  galled  with 
a  yoke);  " I  will  yoke  Ephraim ;  Judah  shall  plough;  Jacob  shall 

harrow." Some  render — I  will  put  a  rider  on  Ephraim,  i.  e.,  for 

a  driver.  Our  English  version  quite  misses  the  sense  in  saying — "I 
will  make  Ephraim  to  ride,"  the  idea  being  that  he  shall  draw  and 
icorh,  not  ride. These  figures,  taken  from  the  occupations  of  ag- 
riculture, are  significant  and  forcible. 

12.  Sow  to  yourselves  in  righteousness,  reap  in 
mercy ;  break  up  your  fallow  ground :  for  it  is  time  to 
seek  the  Lop.d,  till  he  come  and  rain  righteousness  upon 
you. 

"With  this  new  figure  before  the  mind,  the  prophet  turns  here 
to  exhort  both  Israel  and  Judah  to  repentance  and  to  works  of 

righteousness. Here,  as  is  very  common  in  Hebrew,  the  second 

of  two  successive  imperatives  should  be  rendered  in  the  future  as 
a  promise.  "  Sow  for  yourselves,  for  righteousness;  thus  shall  ye 
reap  according  to  your  piety."  The  "  reaping  in  mercy  "  must  be 
promise,  not  command. "For  righteousness  "  is  the  literal  ren- 
dering, meaning,  sow  what  will  naturally  produce  the  fruits  of 
righteousness.  The  word  rendered  "  mercy  "  must  refer  to  man, 
not  to  God,  and  is  therefore  piety.     The  Hebrew  phrase  means — 

according  to  the  measure  of  your  piety. "  Break  up  your  fallow 

ground ; "  make  all  due  preparation  for  the  harvest  of  blessings 

you  need  and  should  seek. "  For  it  is  time  to  seek  Jehovah 

until  he  come  and  teach  you  righteousness."  The  verb  rendered 
in  our  version  to  "  rain "  means  to  rain  in  a  very  few  cases,  to 
teach  in  a  much  larger  number.  In  the  conjugation  used  here  it 
always  means  to  teach,  never  to  rain.  And  since  in  this  latter 
half  of  the  verse  the  figure  is  dropped,  and  the  prophet  says  with- 
out a  figure — "it  is  time  to  seek  the  Lord,"  it  is  more  consonant 
with  the  strain  of  the  clause  to  translate  this  word  without  a  fig- 
ure, "teach,"  rather  than  with  a  figure,  "rain." 

13.  Ye  have  ploughed  wickedness,  ye  have  reaped 
iniquity ;  ye  have  eaten  the  fruit  of  lies :  because  thou 
didst  trust  in  thy  way,  in  the  multitude  of  thy  mighty 
men. 

Resuming  the  figures  of  husbandry,  the  prophet  says — "Ye 


56  HOSEA.— CHAP.  X. 

have  ploughed  -wickedness,"  &c,  in  the  same  sense  as  Paul  (Gal.6 :  7), 
"  Whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap ;  "  or  Solomon 
(Prov.  1 :  31),  "They  shall  eat  of  the  fruit  of  their  own  way,"  &c. 

Ephraini  had  trusted,  not  in  the  Lord,  but  in  the  way  of  her 

own  choice,  and  in  the  multitude  of  her  mighty  men.  The  Lord  is 
now  about  to  show  her  the  folly  of  such  trust. 

14.  Therefore  shall  a  tumult  arise  among  thy  peo- 
ple, and  all  thy  fortresses  shall  be  spoiled,  as  Shalman 
spoiled  Beth-arbel  in  the  day  of  battle:  the  mother 
was  dashed  in  pieces  upon  her  children. 

"Tumult"  is  the  panic-cry  of  men  smitten  with  fear.  "Shal- 
man "  is  abbreviated  for  Shalmaneser,  king  of  Assyria  (see  2  Kings 
17 :  3),  the  same  who  conquered  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes, 
besieged  and  took  Samaria,  and  bore  the  people  away  into  captivity. 

"  Beth-Arbel "  is  probably  Arbela  of  Galilee. The  fearftd 

judgments  which  have  been  spoken  of  repeatedly  throughout  chap- 
ters 4-10  culminate  here.  The  time  is  just  at  hand,  and  the  man- 
ner and  form  of  the  visitation  are  no  longer  couched  in  symbols, 
but  are  announced  in  the  plainest  speech. 

15.  So  shall  Beth-el  do  unto  you  because  of  your 
great  wickedness :  in  a  morning  shall  the  king  of  Israel 
utterly  be  cut  off. 

Bethel,  the  centre  and  hence  the  symbol  of  calf-worship,  is  here 
used  for  the  scourge  sent  of  God  to  desolate  the  land.  The  senti- 
ment is  that  their  sin  at  Bethel  becomes  their  ruin. 

The  king  of  Israel  referred  to  here,  I  assume  to  be  Hoshea,  the 
last  in  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes, — especially  because  the  whole 
tenor  of  chapters  7-14  implies  that  the  destruction  of  the  kingdom 
was  very  near,  and  because  chap.  13 :  10,  11,  implies  that  the  king 

is  already  cutoff. "In  a  morning,"  is  in  the  Hebrew — "in  the 

morning;  "  and  therefore  cannot  well  mean  that  his  being  cut  off 
should  occur  in  the  morning  hour  of  some  indefinite  day;  but 
either  in  tliencxt  morning;  or  taken  adverbially,  very  soon — as  the 
Hebrews  were  wont  to  signify  the  doing  of  a  thing  early  by  a  verb 

formed  from  this  same  word,  which  means  the  morning  dawn. 

There  seems  to  be  no  objection,  either  grammatical  or  historical,  to 
the  sense — in  the  next  morning — to-morrow  morning; — for  it  is 
plain  that  this  prophet  continued  to  bear  messages  to  the  people 
after  the  last  king,  Hoshea,  was  cut  off.  The  history  (2  Kings  17 : 
3-6)  shows  that  this  king  was  shut  up  and  bound  in  prison,  and 
Ilia4;  after  tlih,  the  king  of  Assyria  seized  the  wiiole  country, 
besieged  Samaria,  and  took  it  after  a  siege  of  three  years.  But  this 
last  king  appears  no  more  on  the  lace  of  the  history; — "he  is 
utterly  cut  off." 


HOSEA.—CHAP.  XI.  tf 


CHAPTER    XI. 

TnE  strain  of  rebuke  and  of  forewarning  of  judgment  Laving 
continued  with  only  brief  interruptions  from  the  beginning  of 
chapter  4,  till  we  are  brought  almost  to  the  very  day  in  which  the 
king  of  Israel  should  be  cut  oft*  the  course  of  thought  now  turns  to 
reminiscences  of  love,  and  to  the  most  touching  expressions  of  pity 
and  grief  over  the  impending  ruin  of  Israel. 

1.  When  Israel  was  a  child,  then  I  loved  him,  and 
called  my  son  ont  of  Egypt. 

Thinking  of  the  nation  as  having  a  lifetime,  analogous  to  that 
of  the  individual,  running  through  infancy  and  youth  to  manhood, 
the  Lord  says,  "  When  Israel  was  a  child,  then  I  loved  him,  and 
called  my  sou  out  of  Egypt."  He  had  manifested  a  very  special 
interest  in  the  fathers  of  the  nation,  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob ; 
he  had  shown  his  care  for  their  children  during  their  oppressions 
under  the  Pharaohs.  It  was  precisely  by  means  of  the  call  of  God 
that  Moses  was  trained,  commissioned,  and  led  on  to  become,  under 

God,  the  deliverer  of  the  people  from  Egyptian  bondage. The 

citation  of  this  passage  by  Matthew  (2 :  14,  15),  as  being  fulfilled  in 
the  case  of  the  young  child  Jesus,  called  up  from  Egypt,  raises  the 
question,  Does  Hosea  in  this  passage  refer  in  any  sense  to  the 

Messiah  ? The  context  decides  this  question  in   the  negative. 

The  entire  course  of  thought,  both  in  what  precedes  and  in  what 

follows,  relates  to  the  nation  of  Israel. Hence  Matthew  must 

mean.  "  fulfilled  "  only  in  the  sense  of  an  analogous  event — an  event 
which  filled  out  the  natural  sense  of  the  words  "out  of  Egypt 
have  I  called  my  son."  The  nation  of  Israel  was  God's  child,"and 
might  be  called  his  son.  So  was  Jesus.  God  loved  and  cared  for 
Israel ;  so  and  more  for  the  child  Jesus.  God  brought  the  former 
out  of  Egypt ;  and  the  latter  also.  The  same  language,  therefore, 
fitly  describes  each  event,  and  the  second  becomes  in  a  sort  a  fulfil- 
ment of  the  words  which  describe  the  first.  It  is  not  a  case  of 
the  fulfilment  of  prophecy,  but  only  of  the  words  of  a  certain  his- 
tory. The  great  value  of  the  case  lies  in  its  moral  bearings  as 
illustrating  the  unchanging  and  oft-shown  love  and  care  of  God 
for  his  sons. 

2.  As  they  called  them,  so  they  went  from  them : 
they  sacrificed  nnto  Baalim,  and  burned  incense  to 
graven  images. 

God's  calling  of  his  son  Israel,  especially  by  the  agency  of 
Moses,  suggested  his  continued  agencies  of  calling  the  people  by 
later  prophets,  and  of  this  he  proceeds  to  speak:  "As  they" — these 
later  prophets— "  called  them,  so  they  went  away  from  their  pros- 


58  HOSEA.— CHAI\   XI. 

enoe  " — (so  the  Hebrew) : — the  more  the  Lord's  servants  called 
the  more  the  people  turned  away  ;  "they  sacrificed  to  Baalim,"  &c, 
as  e.  g.  under  Ahab  and  onward.  Indeed,  the  worship  of  Baal 
appears  as  far  back  as  Num.  25 :  3,  5,  and  Judg.  2 :  11-13,  and  6: 

25-32. The  tense  of  the  verbs  "  sacrifice  "  and  "  burn  incense," 

implies  not  only  that  they  had,  but  would  still — of  set  purpose  and 
fixed  habit. 

3.  I  taught  Ephraim  also  to  go,  taking  them  by  their 
arms ;  but  they  knew  not  that  I  healed  them. 

"  Ephraim,"  here  as  elsewhere,  must  be  the  kingdom  of  the  ten 
tribes.  There  was  no  nationality  known  as  Ephraim  till  the  revolt 
under  Jeroboam.  Hence  the  Lord  speaks  of  his  parental  care  of 
this  new-born  nation  in  its  infancy.  "  I  taught  Ephraim  to  walk," 
as  a  little  child  is  taught,  supported  and  helped  along — "taking 
them  by  the  arms."  But  they  did  not  recognize  the  Lord's  hand  in 
their  healing  and  help.  He  does  not  imply  that  they  cou Id  not 
know;  and  docs  not  say  "they  knew  not"  as  lessening,  but  rather  as 
increasing,  their  guilt. 

4.  I  drew  them  with  cords  of  a  man,  with  bands  of 
love  :  and  I  was  to  them  as  they  that  take  off  the  yoke 
on  their  jaws,  and  I  laid  meat  unto  them. 

The  description  of  God's  tender  care  and  gentle  loving  ways 
with  his  people  continues.  "I  drew"  (not  drove)  "them — with 
cords  of  a  man,"  not  cords  of  a  bullock,  untamed,  headstrong,  and 
wild.  These  cords  are  explained  fully  in  the  words  "with  bands 
of  love,"  by  the  sweet  attractions  which  manifested  love  naturally 

creates. The  next  figure  also  is  taken  from  the  ways  of  the  kind 

husbandman  :  "  I  was  to  them  as  they  that  lift  up  the  yoke  which 
presses  on  their  cheek;  " — for  the  rude  yokes  of  oriental  countries 
are  heavy  and  ill-adapted  to  the  comfort  of  animals  while  eating. — 
ri  ne  description  :   "I   brought  food  to  them  and  caused 

them  to  eat."  The  Hebrew  has  two  verbs  here,  of  which  the 
literal  sense  is  given  in  this  translation.  The  tense  of  these  verbs 
implies  that  God  is  willing  still  to  feed  them,  as  of  old.  This  show- 
ing of  God's  loving  care  and  gentleness  toward  his  people  is  at  once 
beautiful  and  strong.  The  facts  of  the  case  justify  more  even  than 
this. 

5.  He  shall  not  return  into  the  land  of  Egypt,  but 
the  Assyrian  shall  be  his  king,  because  they  refused  to 
return. 

Ephraim  as  a  nation  is  spoken  of  as  one  person. — lie  shall  not 
be  suffered  to  turn  back  to  the  Egypt  of  his  fathers,  though  the 
people  often  manifested  a  strong  desire  to  do  so.  God  had  another 
and  a  more  fearful  doom  for  them ;  "  the  Assyrian  shall  be  his 
king"    The  reason— because  the  ;  i  iccl  to  return  in  peni- 


HOSEA.— CHAP.  XL  50 

tenco  to  God. Ilosea  is  remarkable  for  his  play  on  the  various 

senses  of  the  same  word — as  here,  between  "  returning  to  Egypt " 
in  the  first  clause,  and  "  refusing  to  return  "  in  the  second — the  latter 
return  being  moral, — that  of  real  repentance.  Because  they  would 
not  repent,  the  Lord  put  them  under  the  Assyrian  king  which  they 
abhorred,  and  forbade  their  returning  to  Egypt,  which  they  sought. 

G.  And  the  sword  shall  abide  on  his  cities,  and  shall 
consume  his  branches,  and  devour  them,  because  of  then* 
own  counsels. 

The  word  "  abide  "  does  not  give  the  full  force  of  the  Hebrew, 
which  means,  to  whirl,  to  be  moved  in  a  circle,  brandished.  Here, 
the  sword  is  said  to  be  hurled  down  upon  his  cities — as  if  seen  by 
the  prophet,  uplifted  and  waving  high  in  the  hand  of  the  Almighty. 

Through  the  aid  of  progressive  criticism,  the  word  rendered 

"  branch "  obtains  a  modified  and  better  sense.  Primarily,  the 
Hebrew  word  means  a,  part  of  a  thing;  then  a  branch  as  being  part 
of  a  tree ;  then  from  branch,  the  word  comes  to  mean  poles  and 
bars — the  latter  fastening  the  gates  and  becoming  in  a  sort  the 
strength  and  protection  of  a  city ;  and  finally,  by  another  change,  it 
is  used  for  princes  and  chieftains,  considered  as  the  strength  of  the 
city.  So  here,  from  the  cities  on  which  the  sword  falls,  the  prophet 
passes,  not  to  "  branches,"  for  these  have  no  natural  connection 
with  the  city,  but  to  the  chiefs  and  rulers,  and  says  of  them — The 
sword  shall  consume  and  devour  them,  because  of  their  vicious 
counsels  in  departing  from  God.  This  last  circumstance  forbids  us 
to  interpret  the  previous  clause  as  being  said  of  "  branches." 

1.  And  my  people  are  bent  to  backsliding  from  me  : 
though  they  called  them  to  the  Most  High,  none  at  all 
would  exalt  him. 

Though  they  are  my  people,  yet  despite  of  all  my  love  and  of 
all  my  discipline,  they  are  "  bent  " — fully  purposed,  committed — to 

turning  back  and  away  from  me. Though  my  prophets  called 

them  to  return  to  the  Most  High,  yet  with  one  accord  they  "  would 
not  exalt  him" — "exalt,"  in  the  sense  of  honoring  him  as  the 
supreme  God — to  be  adored  instead  of  senseless  idols. 

8.  How  shall  I  give  thee  up,  Ephraim  ?  how  shall  I 
deliver  thee,  Israel '(  how  shall  I  make  thee  as  Admah  ? 
how  shall  I  set  thee  as  Zeboim  ?  mine  heart  is  turned 
within  me,  my  repentings  are  kindled  together. 

The  sense  of  this  verse  is  plain.  The  "giving  up,"  is  to  hope- 
less.ruin  and  desolation.     So  the  parallel  word — "deliver  thee" — 

means  to  give  over  to  the  fell  destroyer. "  Admah  and  Zeboim  " 

are  associated  with  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  as  lying  near  in  Gen.  14 : 

8,  and  in  Deut.  29 :  23,  as  involved  in  the  same  terrible  doom. 

"  Mino  heart  is  turned  within  me  " — with  feelings  of  pity,  and  grief, 


60  HOSEA.— CHAP.  XL 

and  tender  compassion.  "  My  repentings  are  kindled  together," 
implies  that  in  this  great  conflict  of  emotions  between  the  high 
demands  of  justice  and  the  pleadings  of  compassion,  his  relentings 
were  enkindled,  and  his  very  heart  seemed  to  burn  under  the 
intense  yearnings  of  sympathy. The  reader  will  notice  the  strik- 
ing contrast  between  his  people,  "bent  to  backsliding"  from  him, 
and  his  own  heart  so  tenderly  lent  to  love  and  pity.  How  wonder- 
ful that  the  last  words  before  this  outburst  of  tenderness,  and  the 
last  antecedent  thoughts,   are  concerning  the  cruel  waywardness 

and  persistent  rebellion  of  his  people  ! But  no  words  of  comment 

can  heighten  the  beauty  and  force  of  this  inimitable  passage.  The 
very  heart  of  the  God  of  love  stands  forth  revealed  in  its  glowing 
and  expressive  words. 

The  general  strain  of  the  message,  sent  of  God  by  Hosea,  had 
been  of  necessity  stringent  and  stern  with  rebukes  for  sin,  and 
oftentimes  terrible  in  revelations  of  impending  judgment — all  right 
because  absolutely  necessary.  Yet  this  strain,  alone  and  exclusive, 
would  not  do  full  justice  to  the  tenderness  and  the  loving  pity  of 
Israel's  God.     These  messages  therefore  cannot   close  without  a 

most  emphatic  testimony  to  the  loving-kindness  of  Jehovah. 

What  do  these  testimonies  concerning  God  prove  ? 

(1.)  That  he  has  no  pleasure  in  bringing  ruin  on  even  the  guiltiest 

sinner. (2.)  That  he  does  not  punish  in  the  spirit  of  vindictive- 

ness. (3.)  That  he  would  always  spare  the  sinner,  and  forbear  to 

punish,  or  even  chastise,  if  he  could  do  so  wisely  and  safely. (4.) 

That  he  takes  supreme  delight  in  conferring  good,  and  longs  to  bless 

all  his  sentient  creatures. (5.)  That  it  is  only  with  the  deepest 

grief  that  he  ever  brings  pain  and  woe  upon  his  creatures. (G.) 

Hence,  that  he  will  never  punish  any  sinner  beyond  his  real  deserts 
— never  beyond   what    the  good   of    the    universe  imperatively 

demands. (7.)  That  no  sinner,  however  severely  punished,  can 

ever  blame  God. (8.)  That  all  sinners  are  bound  to  do  justice  to 

the  divine  love  and  pity,  and  should  never  impute  to  God  feelings 
and  motives  which  his  own  heart-utterances  unmistakably  preclude 

and  forbid. (9.)  Finally,  that  the  character  and  government  of 

such  a  God  should  command  our  unbounded  and  eternal  confidence 
and  love. 

9.  I  will  not  execute  the  fierceness  of  mine  anger,  I 
will  not  return  to  destroy  Epliraim  :  for  I  am  God,  and 
not  man ;  the  Holy  One  in  the  midst  of  thee  :  and  I  will 
not  enter  into  the  city. 

Speaking  very  much  after  the  manner  of  men,  God  represents 
himself  as  having  more  "  fierceness  of  anger  "  than  he  executes  on 
the  guilty.  Often  we  need  to  make  allowance  for  the  necessity 
resting  upon  God,  if  he  would  be  understood  by  men,  of  adopting 
their  modes  of  expression,  so  as  to  speak  of  himself  as  men  have 
reason  to  speak  of  themselves.     In  such  cases,  we  must  qualify  the 


HOSEA.— CHAP.   XL  61 

statements  by  reference  to  the  known  attributes  of  Jehovah.  In 
the  passage  before  us,  we  must  not  suppose  that  the  anger  of  God 
had  become  unreasonably  fierce,  and  that,  becoming  himself  aware 
of  this,  he  resolved  not  to  execute  it  in  full.  It  is  in  accommodation 
to  finite  minds  that  he  represents  a  conflict  in  his  own  between  his 
indignation  against  sin  and  his  pity  for  the  sinner.  Such  represen- 
tations can  scarcely  mislead  any  except  the  captious  and  uncandid. 

In  the  phrase  "  I  will  not  return  to  destroy,"  the  first  verb  is 

used  adverbially,  the  sense  being — "  I  will  not  again  destroy." 

The  reason  given — "  for  I  am  God  and  not  man,"  reminds  us  of 
those  beautiful  words  of  Isaiah  (55 :  8,  9):  "For  my  thoughts  are 
not  your  thoughts,  neither  are  your  ways,  my  ways,  saith  the 
Lord.  Tor,  as  the  heavens  are  higher  than  the  earth,  so  are  my 
ways  higher  than  your  ways,  and  my  thoughts  than  your  thoughts." 
'The  last  clause  should  read — not,  "  I  will  not  enter  into  the  city," 
but,  " I  will  not  come  in  wrath"  The  former  makes  no  pertinent 
sense  in  this  connection.  The  latter  is  entirely  admissible  on  the 
score  of  usage,  and  is  perfectly  in  harmony  with  the  scope  of  the 
passage. 

10.  They  shall  walk  after  the  Lord  :  he  shall  roar 
like  a  lion:  when  he  shall  roar,  then  the  children  shall 
tremble  from  the  west. 

11.  They  shall  tremble  as  a  bird  out  of  Egypt,  and 
as  a  dove  out  of  the  land  of  Assyria :  and  I  will  place 
them  in  their  houses,  saith  the  Lord. 

Better  things  are  here.     The  people,  once  more,  "  follow  after 

the  Lord" — a  phrase  which  always  means  true  obedience. The 

Lord  is  compared  to  the  lion  and  his  voice  to  the  lion's  roar  with 
reference  to  those  fearful,  awe-inspiring  agencies  of  God  in  provi- 
dence which  startle  and  convulse  the  nations.  It  was  such  agencies 
that  overwhelmed  the  old  Assyrian  and  Chaldean  empires,  and 
raised  up  Cyrus  of  Persia  to  befriend  the  restoration  of  God's  people. 

"  The  children "  here  must  be  the    people  of   God.      They 

"tremble" — i.  e.,  come  with  trembling  "from  the  west,"  as  not  un- 
affected with  awe  under  the  majestic  presence  of  Jehovah.  Yet 
they  come  with  ease  and  rapidity,  as  is  indicated  by  the  flight  of 
the  sparrow  and  the  dove.  They  come  from  every  quarter — from 
Egypt  on  the  south ;  Assyria  on  the  north  and  east ;  and  the  west  is 
specially  named.  Only  for  the  sake  of  the  idea  of  universality 
could  we  expect  the  west  to  be  mentioned,  since  there  lay  the  sea. 

God  will  place  them  in  their  habitations,  for  dwelling  again  in 

peace  and  security. These  verses  give  promise  of  a  successful 

result,  to  some  extent,  and  at  some  time,  to  the  compassionate 
labors  of  the  God  of  Israel  to  reclaim  and  restore  his  people. 

12.  Ephraim  compasseth  me  about  with  lies,  and  the 
house  of  Israel  with  deceit :  but  Judah  yet  ruleth  with 
God,  and  is  faithful  with  the  saints. 


62  HOSE  A.— CHAP.  XI I 

The  Hebrew  attaches  this  verse  to  the  next  chapter.  In  tha 
course  of  thought  it  belongs  there,  and  not  at  the  close  of  this, 
since  it  reverts  again  to  the  perverseness,  treachery,  and  hypocrisy 
of  Ephraim  and  Israel ;  and  when  justly  understood,  makes  Judah 

only  less  treacherous  and  apostate. What  is  said  here  of  Ephraim 

and  Israel  is  plain ;  the  last  clause  which  respects  Judah  has  been 
interpreted  variously.  The  sense  turns  primarily  on  the  Hebrew 
word  rendered  "ruleth."  *  The  translators  of  our  version  derived 
it  from  another  root,  which  means  to  tread  down,  and  then  to  bear 
rule.  But  the  sense  above  given  is  far  more  in  harmony  with  the 
preceding  context,  and  also  with  12  :  2,  which  indeed  quite  forbids 
our  taking  this  passage  in  a  good  sense.  The  best  modern  critics 
derive  this  verb  from  a  root  which  means,  to  run  wildly  and  at 
large,  as  animals  that,  after  long  restraint,  have  broken  loose.  So 
Judah  lias  broken  away  from  the  Lord's  yoke  and  runs  wanton  at 
her  will.  The  same  word  occurs  (Jer.  2 :  31),  "  Wherefor  say  my 
people — We  are  lords;  we  will  come  no  more  unto  thee."  We  are 
lords,  gives  the  idea;  we  have  broken  loose  from  all  authority  and 

restraint. The   entire    last    clause  may   be  translated — "  But 

Judah  runs  loose  and  wild  as  to  God  and  as  to  the  holy  and  faith- 
ful one" — where  God's  purity  and  faithfulness  are  put  in  contrast 
with  the  infidelity  and  moral  pollution  of  Judah.  The  word  for 
"  holy  "  is  indeed  in  the  plural  here.  So  are  some  of  the  names  of 
God.     The  marginal  reading  properly  gives  it,  "  the  most  Holy." 


CHAPTER    XII. 

In  this  chapter  the  prophet,  besides  bringing  out  yet  more  fully 
the  sins  of  Ephraim  and  of  Judah,  seeks  to  encourage  repentance 
and  trust  in  God  by  referring  to  events  in  the  early  history  of  the 
patriarch  Jacob — his  taking  the  precedence  of  his. brother  Esau  (v. 
8) ;  his  prevailing  prayer  at  Peniel,  and  his  meeting  with  God  at 
Bethel  (vs.  3-5). 

1.  Ephraim  feedetli  on  wind,  and  followeth  after  the 
east  wind :  lie  daily  inereasetli  lies  and  desolation  ;  and 
they  do  make  a  covenant  with  the  Assyrians,  and  oil  is 
earned  into  Egypt.  • 

"Feedeth  on  wind,"  literally,  pastureth  himself  on  wind  as  shep- 
herds pasture  their  flocks  on  grass,  which  represents  his  reliance 
on  the  merest  vanities,  on  that  which  can  avail  him  nothing. 
"  Chasing  after  the  east  wind"  has  the  same  significance.  "Every 
day  he  multiplieth  lies,"  and  consequently  "desolation" — the  deso- 
lation being  manifestly  spoken  of  here  as  the  fruit  of  his  lies.     The 

*  T?* — rood,  expressed  in  English  letters. 


HOSE  A.— CHAP.  XII.  03 

prophet's  eye  seems  to  have  been  on  the  historic  events  narrated 
(2  Kings  17  :  3,  4),  where  it  is  stated  that  the  king  of  Assyria  came 
against  Hoshea,  the  last  king  of  Israel ;  that  Iloshea  became  his 
servant  and  paid  him  tribute ;  that  subsequently  the  king  of  As- 
syria "  found  conspiracy  in  Hoshea  because  he  sent  messengers  to 
So,  king  of  Egypt,  and  brought  no  present  to  the  king  of  Assyria, 
as  he  had  done  year  by  year ;  therefore  the  king  of  Assyria  shut 
him  up  and  bound  him  in  prison,"  came  up  and  besieged  his  capi- 
tal, subdued  his  kingdom,  and  took  his  people  captive.     His  lies  did 

not  pay,  but  brought  on  him  and  his  kingdom  ruin. "  They 

made  a  covenant  with  the  Assyrians,1'  but  broke  it;  "  they  carried 
oil  into  Egypt "  as  a  present  or  tribute,  but  Egypt  could  not  save 
them  from  the  Assyrian  power.  .The  last  three  verbs  of  this  verse 
— rendered  "  increaseth,"  "  do  make,"  "  is  carried" — are  all  in  the 
incomplete  tense,  which  implies  not  only  that  they  have  done  so, 
but  have  the  heart  to  do  so  still. 

2.  The  Lord  liatli  also  a  controversy  with  Judah, 
and  will  punish  Jacob  according  to  his  ways ;  according 
to  his  doings  will  he  recompense  him. 

"  Controversy,"  in  the  same  sense  as  in  4: 1 — ground  of  griev- 
ous complaint.     "  And  will  visit  upon  Jacob  "  (literally  rendered), 

in  the  sense  of  retribution  for  his  sins. "  Jacob  "  in  this  passage 

must  mean  Ephraim,  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes. 

3.  He  took  his  brother  by  the  heel  in  the  womb,  and 
by  his  strength  he  had  power  with  God : 

The  name  "  Jacob,"  applied  to  the  northern  kingdom,  helps  the 
prophet  to  pass  by  an  easy  transition  to  the  early  history  of  the 

patriarch  who  bore  this  name. "  He  took  his  brother  by  the 

heel  in  the  womb,"  indicating  that  he  would  supplant  him  in  the 
matter  of  the  birthright  and  of  priority.  See  the  history  (Gen.  25  : 
2C).     The  verb  from  which  the  name  Jacob  is  derived  means  "  to 

take  by  the  heel,"  to  supplant. No  bad  intention  or  purpose  on 

Jacob's  part  should  attach  to  this  supplanting  as  here  spoken  of. 
It  simply  indicated  the  purpose  of  God  to  put  Jacob  before  Esau, 
although  born  last.     This  preference  is  alluded  to  in  this  passage  to 

encourage  the  people  to  return  to  their  own  God. The  next 

clause  carries  us  to  the  celebrated  scene  of  Peniel,  where  Jacob 
wrestled  with  the  angel  of  the  covenant  in  struggling  prayer  all 
night,  and  finally  prevailed,  "  had  power  with  God,"  and  became 
a  prince  through  his  perseverance  and  success.  The  Lord  gave  him 
the  name  Israel,  meaning  a  prince  with  God,  at  this  very  time,  both 
to  indicate  and  to  honor  his  prevalence  in  prayer.  (See  Gen.  32  : 
28.)  "  Thy  name  shall  be  called  no  more  Jacob,  but  Israel ;  for  as 
a  prince  hast  thou  power  with  God  and  with  men,  and  hast  pre- 
vailed." 

4.  Yea,  he  hod  power  over  the  angel,  and  prevailed: 


64:  HOSEA— CHAP.  XII. 

he  wept,  and  made  supplication  unto  him :  he  found 
him  in  Beth-el,  and  there  he  spake  with  us ; 

To  give  the  nicer  shades  of  thought  from  .the  original,  and  to 
present  the  relations  of  the  different  persons  brought  to  view,  the 
verse  might  be  rendered  somewhat  freely,  thus :  "  And  then  he  had 
power  with  the  angel  and  prevailed ;  he  wept  and  made  supplica- 
tion to  him.  Also  God  met  him  (Jacob)  at  Bethel,  and  there  spake 
with  him  and  through  him  with  us."  The  angel  referred  to  is 
called  God  (Elohim)  in  v.  3,  and  can  be  no  other  than  the  uncre- 
ated angel  of  the  covenant,  who  appears  not  unfrequently  in  the 
history  of  ancient  Israel,  manifesting  divine  attributes,  and  ob- 
viously being  the  very  Messiah,  then,  as  ever,  the  Head  of  the 

Church  on  earth. In  the  record  of  the  scenes  of  Peniel  (Gen. 

32  :  24-30),  the  historian  does  not  call  him  "  the  angel,"  but  says, 
"  there  wrestled  a  man  with  him  until  the  breaking  of  the  day." 
This  gives  his  external  appearance.  But  Jacob,  when  the  scene 
had  passed,  called  the  name  of  the  place  Peniel,  the  face  of  God, 
"  for  he  said,  I  have  seen  God  face  to  face."  Much  to  our  point 
are  God's  words  to  Moses  (Ex.  23  :  20,  21) :  a  Behold,  I  send  an  an- 
gel before  thee  to  keep  thee  in  the  way  and  to  bring  thee  into  the 
place  which  I  have  prepared.  Beware  of  him  and  obey  his  voice; 
provoke  him  not;  for  he  will  not  pardon  your  transgressions;  for 
my  name  is  in  Kim."  The  power  to  pardon  sin,  implied  to  exist  in 
him,  and  especially  the  last  words,  u  my  name "  (in  the  sense  of 
nature  and  attributes)  "is  in  him,"  must  be  considered  as  amply 

identifying  him  to  be  the  second  person  in  the  Godhead. With 

him  Jacob  wrestled  in  agonizing  prayer — the  external  struggle  be- 
ing only  an  index  of  the  inward,  which  was  the  vital  thing.  Jacob 
was  in  most  imminent  peril  from  his  enraged  and  powerful  brother, 
and  therefore  must  seek  help  from  God.  His  long  agony  of  strug- 
gling prayer  suggests  that  lie  may  have  had  an  unsettled  account 
with  the  "angel  of  the  covenant,"  some  of  the  items  of  which 
may  have  been  his  complicity  with  his  mother  in  the  deception 
practised  by  her  to  get  from  Isaac  the  paternal  blessing;  and  not 
improbably  some  lack  of  faithful  reproof  of  his  favorite  Rachel  in 
the  matter  of  her  proclivities  toward  idol-worship — things  to  be  re- 
pented of  and  adjusted  as  to  God  before  any  signal  testimony  of 
his  favor  could  be  safely  given.  It  need  not  surprise  us,  therefore, 
that  "  he  wept  and  made  supplication."  The  full  history  of  his 
heart  might  show  how  bitterly  he  repented  of  his  sins,  and  how 
earnestly  he  plead  that  God  would  remember  his  covenant,  and  not 
account  the  great  faults  of  his  servant  as  a  forfeiture  of  his  claims 

upon  God  for  protection  and  help. In  all  its  parts  this  was  a 

wonderful  case  of  persevering  and  prevailing  prayer — one  that 
might  well  be  suggested  to  the  whole  Hebrew  people  in  the  times 
of  Hosea  as  an  assurance  that  such  prayer  might  yet  save  them, 

while   nothing  less   or   other   than   this   could. Abruptly  the 

prophet  passes  to  the  third  scene  in  the  life  of  Jacob — that  which 


IIOSEA.— CRAP.  XII.  05 

transpired  at  Bethel.  There  the  Lord  God  met  the  youthful  Jacob, 
reminded  him  of  his  own  covenant  with  Abraham  and  Isaac ;  re- 
ncAved  this  covenant  with  Jacob,  and  left  him.  Then  Jacob  awoke 
from  this  blessed  vision  and  said,  "  Surely  the  Lord  is  in  this  place, 
and  I  knew  it  not."  "  How  dreadful  is  this  place !  This  is  none 
other  but  the  house  of  God,  and  this  is  the  gate  of  heaven !  "  See 
Gen.  28 :  11-22. Some  difference  of  opinion  exists  as  to  the  sig- 
nificance of  the  last  word  of  this  verse,  "  us."  In  what  sense  did 
the  Lord  speak  with  its  in  Bethel  ?     Hosea  says,  "  There  the  Lord 

found  Jacob,  and  there  he  spake  with  not  Jacob  only,  but  us." 

Some  have  said,  the  prophet  included  with  Jacob,  himself,  and 
perhaps  others  also,  on  the  score  of  a  common  sympathy,  as  writers 
sometimes  unconsciously  suppose 'themselves  to  be  participating  in 
scenes  that  awaken  in  their  hearts  deep  interest. Others,  no- 
ticing that  the  verb  rendered  "  spake  "  is  in  the  future,  have  given 
it  this  turn :  There  the  Lord  will  speak  with  us ;  did  speak  with 

Jacob,  and  will  no  less  with  us  if  we  seek  him  as  earnestly. 

The  latter  idea — that  God  will  truly  speak  with  us  and  with  all 
Avho  wait  earnestly  on  him — is  no  doubt  implied ;  the  Bible  usually 

implies  this,  though  it  is  rarely  deemed  necessary  to  express  it. 

The  first  of  the  two  views  above  given  is  preferable,  expanded  with 
this  further  idea,  that  the  things  God  said  there  belong  to  the 
whole  future  family  of  Jacob,  viz.:  the  promise* of  Canaan;  a 
countless  seed ;  a  blessing  on  all  the  families  of  the  earth  through 
his  offspring,  and  the  Lord  Jehovah  for  his  God  and  their  God.  In 
view  of  the  broad  application  of  the  things  said  then  and  there  to 
all  the  Hebrew  race,  Hosea  might  well  say,  "  There  the  Lord  spake 
with  us  " — with  us  none  the  less  because  through  Jacob.  In  this 
sense  the  future  incomplete  tense  of  the  Hebrew  is  specially  appo- 
site.— '■ — There  was  peculiar  fitness  in  this  allusion  to  Bethel — the 
place  made  so  sacred  in  those  ancient  times  by  the  presence  of  God 
and  by  his  renewed  covenant,  butf  during  many  generations  re- 
cently past,  most  horribly  desecrated  by  giving  to  a  calf  tho  wor- 
ship due  to  God  alone. 

5.  Even  the  Lord  God  of  hosts ;  the  Lord  is  his  me- 
morial. 

This  verse  is  a  close  continuation  of  the  preceding.     "  There  he 

spake  with  us,  even  the  Lord  God  of  hosts." In  most  English 

Bibles  the  name  "  ZcrcZ"  is  printed  in  small  capitals  when  it  trans- 
lates the  Hebrew  word  Jehovah.  In  this  verse  the  Hebrew  reads, 
"Even  Jehovah,  God  of  hosts — Jehovah  is  his  memorial."  By 
this  is  meant  that  the  name  Jehovah  is  that  by  which  he  would  be 
specially  known,  or,  more  precisely,  is  that  one  of  his  various 
names  whose  significance  he  would  have  his  people  evermore  re- 
member, as  to  be  fulfilled  all  along  onward  in  the  lapse  of  the  ages. 
All  the  names  given  to  the  Supreme  Being  are  significant,  e.  g.y 
"God  of  Hosts,"  or  of  the  celestial  armies;  "El-Shaddai,"  the 
Omnipotent  or  Almighty;  "El"  alone,  the  exalted  and  the  mighty 


66  HOSEA.— CHAP.  XII. 

one  ;  and  in  like  manner  "  Jehovah,"  the  immutable,  "  he  that  was 
and  is  and  is  to  come,"  forever  li/ing  and  forever  the  same, 
the  real  and  the  great  u I  am"  See  Ex.  3:13-15,  and  0:3, 
where  it  is  said,  "  This  is  my  name  forever,  and  this  is  my  memo- 
rial imto  all  generations ;  "  and  where  also  God  said  to  Moses,  "  I 
am  Jehovah ;  and  I  appeared  unto  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  by 
the  name  of  God  Almighty,  but  by  my  name  Jehovah  was  I  not 
known  unto  them."  This  cannot  mean  that  they  had  never  known 
and  used  the  name  Jehovah,  for  they  had.  It  must  therefore  mean 
that  God  had  not  fulfilled  to  them  the  true  significance  of  this 
name,  i.  e.,  one  faithful  to  his  promises.  The  idea  is  that  this  faith- 
fulness results  from  his  immutability,  and  that  his  people  do  not 
fully  Mow  this  attribute  of  God  till  they  have  tested  and  proved  it 
in  their  experience  of  his  faithfulness  in  fulfilling  his  promises.  In 
this  sense  the  name  Jehovah  stands  through  all  time  as  his  memo- 
rial name — its  significance  to  be  remembered  by  his  people,  and 
perpetually  developed  and  fulfilled  more  and  more  in  the  lapse  of 
ages.  The  significance  of  his  other  names  may  be  verified  and  ful- 
filled at  once ;  his  omnipotence  is  seen  in  the  creation  of  worlds 
and  in  every  real  miracle ;  but  his  name  Jehovah  is  verified  only 
oy  tlie  aid  of  time,  through  the  occurrence  of  events  transpiring  all 
along  down  the  world's  history.  In  this  most  expressive  sense  it 
is  his  memorial  name,  and  is  adduced  by  Ilosea  most  fitly  in  this 
connection  to  encourage  the  people  to  put  their  trust  in  him. 

C.  Therefore,  turn  thou  to  thy  God :  keep  mercy  and 
judgment,  and  wait  on  thy  God  continually. 

Ilence  the  application  here  made — "  Therefore,"  since  God  is 
forever  faithful  and  true,  since  he  ever  has  been  and  ever  will  be 
the  God  of  his  people  Israel,  "  therefore,  turn  thou  to  thy  God." 
lt  Keep  mercy  and  judgment  " — duties  toward  man  ;  "  and  wait  on 
thy  God  continually,"  living  in  dependence  upon  him,  and  expect- 
ing all  needful  good  from  him  alone.  Morality  toward  man  and 
piety  toward  God  make  up  the  sum  of  human  duty — loving  God 
with  all  thy  heart  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself. 

7.  He  is  a  merchant,  the  balances  of  deceit  are  in 
his  hand ;  he  lovcth  to  oppress. 

The  discourse  here  turns  abruptly  to  another  sin  of  the  people 
of  Ephraim — covetousness  and  consequent  oppression.  "The  Oa- 
naanite — balances  of  deceit  are  in  his  hand:  "  he  loves  to  take  ad- 
vantage in  trade,  and  to  drive  a  gainful  bargain  to  the  extent  of 
real  oppression.  The  word  "  Canaanite  "  is  used  for  merchant, 
that  people  being  the  traffickers  of  Western  Asia.  The  Phoenicians, 
long  celebrated  for  commerce  and  navigation,  were  part  of  the 
original  people  of  Canaan.  The  word  Canaanite  means  in  Hebrew 
one  who  acquires,  accumulates.     To  this  also  the  present  use  of  the 

word  may  refer. "Balances  of  deceit"   were  made  to  cheat 

with — one  weight  for  buying  and  another  for  selling.     Thus  (Prov. 


IIOSEA.— CIIAP.  XII.  (if 

20 :  23),  "An  abomination  to  the  Lord  is  a  stone  and  a  stone"  (one 
to  buy  with  and  one  to  sell  ■with) ;  "  and  balances  of  deceit  are  not 

good,"  i.  c,  are  utterly  bad. This  allusion  to  the  trading  usages 

of  Canaan  was  shaped  to  take  hold  of  the  people  of  Ephraim,  the 
more  so  because  the  latter,  while  in  general  holding  the  Canaanites 
in  contempt,  were  yet  'trading,  defrauding,  and  oppressing  in  the 
same  way.  As  if  the  prophet  wTould  say:  See  the  (Janaanite;  you 
think  meanly  of  him  for  his  low  tricks  of  trade ;  what  do  you  think 
of  yourselves  ? 

8.  And  Ephraim  said,  Yet  I  am  become  rich,  I  have 
found  me  out  substance :  in  all  my  labours  they  shall 
find  none  iniquity  in  me  that  were  sin. 

"Also  Ephraim  said:  Surely  I  am  rich;  I  have  found  wealth 
for  myself;  in  all  the  fruits  of  my  business  they  shall  find  in  me  no 
acts  of  extortion  that  are  sinful."  The  last  word  is  from  the  verb 
which  means  to  miss  the  mark,  to  overdo,  to  overstep  due  bounds. 
Ephraim  quietly  implies  that  in  trade  some  little  crookedness  and 
deception  are  quite  admissible;  (probably  he  would  have  said,  Who 
can  live  by  trade  otherwise?)  But  on  the  other  hand  there  are 
things  so  flagrant  that  all  the  world  will  call  them  sin.  He  hopes, 
indeed  he  is  quite  sure,  they  will  not  find  any  of  this  bad  sort  of 

sin  in  his  business  life. So  human  nature  and  the  usages  and 

moralities  of  trade  were  much  the  same  b.  o.  750,  when  Rosea  was 
writing,  as  they  are  to-day ! 

9.  And  I  that  am  the  Loud  thy  God  from  the  land 
of  Egypt  will  yet  make  thee  to  dwell  in  tabernacles,  as 
in  the  clays  of  the  solemn  feast. 

Once  more  the  prophet  turns  abruptly,  as  is  his  wont,  to  prom- 
ises, yet  again  to  try  the  power  of  persuasion  and  love  on  the  peo- 
ple. "  Yet  I,  the  Lord  thy  God  ever  since  Egypt "  (i.  e.,  since  the 
exodus  from  Egypt),  "  will  yet  make  thee  to  dwell  in  tents,"  &c, 
with  reference  to  the  feast  of  tabernacles,  the  great  national  thanks- 
giving. This  was  always  a  joyful  occasion.  Hence  this  verse  must 
be  interpreted  as  a  promise  of  good,  and  not  a  threatening  of  evil. 

10.  I  have  also  spoken  by  the  prophets,  and  I  have 
multiplied  visions,  and  used  similitudes,  by  the  ministry 
of  the  prophets. 

Literally,  "  I  have  spoken  to  the  prophets  " — that  they  might 
speak  for  me  to  the  people.  During  the  great  apostasy  in  the  latter 
years  of  the   kingdom  of  Ephraim,  the   Lord   greatly  multiplied 

prophets  and  visions. "  Similitudes  "  include  poetic  figures,  and 

also  symbols,  which  latter  comprise  both  illustrative  acts  done  by 
the  i^rophets,  and  also  things  seen  in  vision. 

11.  Is  there  iniquity  in  Gilead  ?  surely  they  are  van- 


68  IIOSEA.— CHAH.  XIII. 

ity :  they  sacrifice  bullocks  in  Gil^al ;  yea,  their  altars 
are  as  heaps  in  the  furrows  of  the  helds. 

Literally,  "  Lo !    Gilead  is  wickedness !  "    The  next  clause  is 

parallel:  "surely  they  are  vanity.'1 Gilead,  one  of  the  cities  of 

refuge,  where  many  priests  dwelt,  has  been  named  for  its  great 

wickedness  above  (6  :  8). G-ilgal  also  was  notorious  for  its  idol 

worship.  The  Hebrew  word  "  heaps  "  is  a  play  on  the  word  Gil  gal, 
which  means  a  rolled-up  heap  of  stones.  Idol  altars  were  thick 
there  as  the  heaps  of  stones  in  a  ploughed  field. 

12.  And  Jacob  fled  into  the  country  of  Syria,  and 
Israel  served  for  a  wife,  and  for  a  wife  he  kept  sheep. 

This  brief  and  abrupt  allusion  to  Jacob  was  designed  to  suggest 
God's  watchful  care  through  his  providence  over  his  trustful  chil- 
dren.    This  familiar  history  is  found,  Gen.  chapters  29-33. 

13.  And  by  a  prophet  the  Lord  brought  Israel  out 
of  Egypt,  and  by  a  prophet  was  he  preserved. 

By  this  prophet,  Moses,  the  Lord  brought  up  his  people  from 
Egypt,  and  can  do  like  things  again;  by  this  prophet  Israel  was 
kept — the  same  word  which  is  rendered  Tc&pt  in  v.  12.  As  Jacob 
kept  sheep — a  faithful  shepherd — so  the  Lord  by  Moses  kept  his 
people,  and,  as  Hosea  would  have  the  people  infer,  can  again. 

14.  Ephraim  provoked  him  to  anger  most  bitterly : 
therefore  shall  he  leave  his  blood  upon  him,  and  his  re- 
proach shall  his  Lord  return  unto  him. 

But  Ephraim  has  long  provoked  him  most  bitterly ;  therefore 
shall  his  Lord  leave  his  blood  upon  him,  unpardoned,  and  not 
washed  away,  and  shall  turn  back  his  reproach  upon  himself.  The 
blood  referred  to  is  probably  that  of  children  sacrificed  to  Moloch; 
his  reproach  is  that  which  he  had  cast  upon  the  true  God  by  dis- 
carding his  law  and  worship,  and  putting  idols  before  him.  God 
would  requite  this  reproach  by  consigning  Ephraim  to  public  con- 
tempt among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

The  main  drift  of  this  chapter  is  to  set  forth  the  sins  of  Ephraim 
and  their  certain  consequences  in  his  ruin — intermingled  with  some 
rich  assurances  of  God's  love  and  promises  of  mercy  and  help  to 
the  penitent. 

1.  When  Ephraim  spake  trembling,  he  exalted  him- 
self in  Israel ;  but  when  he  offended  in  Baal,  he  died. 


HOSEA.— CHAP.  XIII.  69 

Our  translators  seem  to  have  supposed  the  first  clause  to  refer 
to  a  time  when  Ephraim  was  penitent  and  humble.  More  recent 
investigations  in  the  language  show  that  this  sense  and  construction 
are  scarcely  admissible,  and  by  no  means"  probable.  The  word  on 
which  the  interpretation  hinges,  occurs  in  this  precise  form  no- 
where else  in  our  Bible.  But  a  cognate  word,  without  much  doubt 
of  the  same  meaning,  occurs,  Jer.  49 :  24,  where  it  means  terror. 
This  word  in  our  passage  is  a  noun,  not,  as  in  the  English  transla- 
tion, a  participial  adjective.  I  translate :  "  When  Ephraim  spake, 
there  was  trembling ;  he  stood  high  in  Israel ;  but  when  he  sinned 
in  the  matter  of  Baal,  he  died."  Ephraim,  as  here  used,  is  the 
one  tribe  only,  not  the  whole  ten.  In  the  early  days  of  the  king- 
dom the  influence  of  this  tribe  was  very  great;  the  word  of 
Ephraim  was  law,  and  was  heard  with  trembling.  His  sin  in  the 
matter  of  Baal  proved  the  ruin  of  his  influence  and  of  himself. 

2.  And  now  they  sin  more  and  more,  and  have  made 
them  molten  images  of  their  silver,  and  idols  according 
to  their  own  understanding,  all  of  it  the  work  of  the 
craftsmen :  they  say  of  them,  Let  the  men  that  sacrifice 
kiss  the  calves. 

The  word  used  here  for  idols,  as  above  remarked,  in  4: 17,  is 
itself  significant  of  toil  and  labor  in  their  construction. "  Ac- 
cording to  their  own  understanding  "  means  with  their  skill,  with 

the  best  art  and  tact  they  have. "Wholly  the  work  of  the 

craftsmen,'1  is  yet  further  expressive  of  the  leading  idea  that  these 
idols  are  nothing  whatever  beyond  what  men  make  them.  There 
is  nothing  else  about  them,  in  them,  or  of  them.  The  prophet 
means  to  deny  that  there  is  any  invisible  God  dwelling  in  them. 
In  the  phrase  "  they  say  of  them,"  the  pronoun  they  is  expressed 
in  the  Hebrew,  and  hence  is  made  prominent  in  the  thought — re- 
ferring here  to  the  priests,  who  had  the  management  of  idol  wor- 
ship. They  gave  the  order  that  the  men  who  offered  sacrifice 
should  kiss  the  calves.  This  ceremony  was  one  form  of  expressing 
their  reverence,  confidence,  and  atfcction  for  these  calves. 

3.  Therefore  they  shall  be  as  the  morning  cloud, 
and  as  the  early  dew  that  passeth  away,  as  the  chaff 
that  is  driven  with  the  whirlwind  out  of  the  floor,  and 
as  the  smoke  ont  of  the  chimney. 

"  Therefore,"  as  the  fruit  of  such  senseless  and  guilty  worship, 
their  glory  shall  be  evanescent ;  the  whole  nation  shall  soon  disap- 
pear i'rom  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  hold  no  longer  any  place 
among  the  nations.  The  threshing  floors  were  fitted  up  on  high 
hills,  and  in  open,  exposed  situations,  to  get  the  benefit  of  the  wind 
in  cleaning  grain.  But  when  an  oriental  whirlwind  fell  suddenly 
upon  this  operation,  the  chaff"  was  driven  off  fearfully. 


70  HOSEA.— CHAP.  XIII. 

4.  Yet  1  am  the  Loud  thy  God  from  the  land  of 
Egypt,  and  thou  shalt  know  no  God  but  me :  for  there  is 
no  saviour  beside  me. 

Yet  fearful  as  their  doom  must  be,  and  great  as  their  guilt  had 
been,  the  Lord  reminds  them  that  he  has  been  their  God  ever  since 
the  nation  came  out  from  Egypt.  He  evinced  this  relationship  to 
them  then,  and  had  done  nothing  on  his  part  since  to  change  it. 

5.  I  did  know  thee  in  the  wilderness,  in  the  land  of 
creat  drought. 

"  I  did  know  thee  in  the  wilderness,"  means  more  than  a  mere 
knowledge  of  what  they  were.  It  implies  that  he  had  manifested 
his  knowledge  of  their  case  by  his  sympathy,  love,  and  care.  He 
let  nothing  pertaining  to  their  case  or  wants  escape  his  notice. 
The  word  rendered  "  drought"  means  properly,  thirst — a  land  cele- 
brated for  the  thirst  of  the  weary  traveller — one  where  no  water 
is.  In  that  land,  God  brought  forth  water  for  them  from  the 
rock. 

G.  According  to  their  pasture,  so  were  they  filled ; 
and  their  heart  was  exalted  :  therefore  have  they  for- 
gotten me. 

The  better  God  made  their  condition,  or,  in  the  prophet's  figure, 
the  better  pasture  he  put  them  into,  the  more  they  were  sated;  this 

fulness  begat  pride;  and  in  their  pride,  they  ibrgat  Jehovah. 

Alas,  that  this  should  be  the  history  of  so  many  myriads  of  sinners! 
God  blesses  them  (must  we  say)  too  much  ;  they  become  too  full  ; 
then  proud ;  then  they  forget  God,  and  become  awfully  strong  in 
their  wickedness ! 

7.  Therefore  I  will  be  unto  them  as  a  lion :  as  a 
leopard  by  the  way  will  I  observe  them. 

8.  I  will  meet  them  as  a  bear  that  is  bereaved  of  her 
whelm,  and  Avill  rend  the  caul  of  their  heart,  and  there 
will  I  devour  them  like  a  lion  :  the  wild  beast  shall  tear 
them. 

The  figures  to  represent  swift  destruction  are  multiplied. To 

"  observe,"  as  the  leopard,  is  to  lie  in  wait  and  watch  as  for  prey. 

God  represents  himself  as  doing  what  is  done  instrumentally  by 

the  Assyrian  arms. 

9.  O  Israel,  thou  hast  destroyed  thyself;  but  in  me 
is  thine  help. 

The  received  translation  expresses  rich  truths  with  great  force. 
Thou  art  thine  own  destroyer  ;  thy  God  thine  only  deliverer.  The 
destruction  is  wholly  thine  ;  the  salvation  altogether  mine. 

But  although  both  these  propositions  are  true,  and  although 


HOSE  A.— CHAP.  Xni.  71 

their  beauty  and  force  are  much  enhanced  by  this  vivid  juxtaposi- 
tion and  contrast,  yet  a  close  and  careful  study  of  the  original  raises 
a  serious  doubt  in  my  mind  whether  this  is  precisely  its  sense. 

The  first  clause  is  all  right*  k'  Thine  is  this  destruction;"  but 
the  last  clause,  having  in  Hebrew  three  words,  is  more  closely  and 
perfectly  rendered  thus :  "  Because  (thou  art)  against  me,  against 
thy  help."  The  strong  objection  to  our  received  translation  is  the 
proposition  against  before  the  last  word,  "  thy  help."  The  English 
translation  mates  no  account  of  it;  but  llosea  does  not  put  in  words 
for  nothing.  Then  also  the  connecting  particle  more  naturally 
means  became  than  hut. 

In  this  construction  we  miss  the  strong  antithesis,  but  we  get  a 
pertinent  sense,  and  one  in  harmony  with  the  previous  and  follow- 
ing context; — thus  v.  8,  The  Assyrian  power  shall  devour  thee: 
v.  9,  This  destruction  is  all  of  thine  own  procuring,  because  thou 
wast  against  me,  against  thy  only  help  :  v.  10,  Where  is  thy  king 
now,  or  any  one  that  can  save  thee  ?  &c. 

10.  I  will  be  thy  king :  where  is  any  other  that  may 
save  thee  in  all  thy  cities  %  and  thy  judges  of  whom  thou 
saidst,  Give  me  a  king  and  princes  % 

The  most  approved  translation  is  that  in  the  margin:  "Where 
is  thy  king  now — that  he  may  save  thee  in  all  thy  cities  ?  "  In  this 
case  the  Hebrew  marginal  reading  is  followed,  not  the  received 
text.  The  difference  between  the  two  is  that  the  marginal  reading 
transposes  the  last  two  radicals.* 

The  remark  is  pertinently  made  in  our  English  margin,  that 
Hoshea,  the  last  king,  was  at  this  time  in  prison,  as  is  stated  2  Kings 
17:4. 

11.  I  gave  thee  a  king  in  mine  anger,  and  took  him 
away  in  my  wrath. 

This  statement  probably  has  reference  to  this  very  king  Hoshea. 
It  was  true  of  Saul,  and  no  less  so  of  many  of  the  kings  in  the  king- 
dom of  the  ten  tribes.  But  if  we  ask  for  the  particular  king  thought 

*  The  real  question  for  the  critic  here  is  whether  he  shall  read  ifTtf 
"I  will  be;"  orj-px  "Where?"  The  only  difference  is  in  the  trans- 
position of  the  last  two  radicals.  The  critical  authorities  for  the  two  read- 
ings in  Hebrew  arc  conflicting.  I  prefer  the  latter  (  H^X)  "Where?" 
(1.)  Because  as  compared  with  the  other,  which  is  followed  in  our  received 
version,  this  flows  easily,  following  the  natural  order  of  the  Hebrew  words  ; 
while  that  one  labors  and  almost  does  violence  to  the  word  rendered 
"where,"  in  the  clause,  "  where  is  any  other,"  &c.  (2.)  This  last-named 
woid  (fiOSfct)  strongly  indicates  that  the  sentence  in  which  it  occurs  com- 
menced with  an  interrogative.  This  is  its  common  use — an  enclitic  or 
post-positive  particle,  after  an  interrogative.  Our  received  translation 
makes  this  word  itself  an  interrogative,  which  is  scarcely  admissible. 
(3.)  The  sense  is  indefinitely  more  pertinent  and  forcible — a  consideration 
which,  superadded  to  the  preceding,  is  conclusive. 


72  HOSEA.— CHAP.   XIII. 

of  by  the  author,  no  one  meets  the  conditions  so  well  as  the  last, 
Hoshea. 

12.  The  iniquity  of  Ephraim  is  bound  up ;  his  sin  is 
hid. 

This  refers  to  what  God,  not  Ephraim,  has  done  with  his  sin. 
It  is  not  implied  that  Ephraim  has  been  able  to  hide  his  sin  from 
either  man  or  God.  The  figures  are  taken  from  a  man's  tieing  up 
and  hiding  his  money  or  other  valuables  for  safe-keeping.  So  God 
has  laid  away  the  sin  of  Ephraim,  to  be  brought  forth  another  day 
for  terrible  retribution !  Of  this  coming  retribution,  the  prophet 
proceeds  to  speak. 

13.  The  sorrows  of  a  travailing  woman  shall  come 
upon  him  :  he  is  an  unwise  son  ;  for  he  should  not  stay 
long  in  the  place  of  the  breaking  forth  of  children. 

The  received  translation  of  this  verse  can  scarcely  be  improved. 
The  figure  in  the  first  clause  suddenly  changes.  Ephraim  is  first  a 
mother  in  her  travail  pains ;  then  an  infant  voluntarily  retarding 
his  own  birth,  and  thus  fearfully  imperilling  both  his  own  life  and 

the  mother's. No  figures  drawn  from  human  experience  can  be 

more  forcible  than  this — the  peril  that  ensues  when  k'  children  come 
to  the  birth  and  there  is  not  strength  to  bring  forth."  If,  now,  to 
get  the  full  force  of  this  passage  as  applied  to  Ephraim,  we  suppose 
the  son  to  bring  on  this  danger  by  his  own  voluntary,  intelligent 
agency,  we  shall  see  the  infatuation  and  very  madness  which  Hosea 
so  temperately  describes  as  being  u  unwise."  Ephraim  is  going  to 
the  judgment  with  God  in  charge  of  all  his  sins,  and  he  still  lingers 
under  the  call  to  repent,  and  will  not  make  peace  with  his  offended 

judge. The  primary  reference  here  is  to  judgments  on  earth, 

and  very  near  ;  yet  the  principle  is  even  more  pertinent  and  forci- 
ble as  applied  to  every  sinner  going  to  the  final  judgment. 

14.  I  will  ransom  them  from  the  power  of  the  grave  ; 
I  will  redeem  them  from  death  :  O  death,  I  will  be  thy 
plagues,  0  grave,  I  will  be  thy  destruction:  repentance 
shall  be  hid  from  mine  eyes. 

Ephraim  is  seen  ruining  himself  by  his  madness.  The 
figure  in  the  prophet's  mind  suggests  death  in  some  of  its  most 
painful  forms;  but  God  interposes,  saying,  "I  will  ransom  thee 
from  Sheol ;  I  will  redeem  thee  from  death."  Sheol,  the  grave, 
and  death  are,  of  course,  personified  here,  and  supposed  to  be  living 
agents  of  terrific  power  over  frail  mortals. The  clauses  trans- 
lated— "  O  death,  I  will  he  thy  plagues  ;  "  "0  grave,  I  will  be  thy 
destruction — "  raise  the  same  critical  question  which  came  up  in  v. 
10 — the  choice  between  the  interrogative  and  the  indicative  form — 
with,  however,  less  reason  for  the  interrogative  here  than  there. 
The  general  sense  is  the  same  either  way;  the  interrogative  form 


nosEA.—cnAr.  xiii.  73 

is  the  more  bold  and  triumphant,  and  has  yet  this  further  fact  in  its 
favor,  viz.  :  that  Paul  (1  Cor.  15 :  55)  quotes  interrogatively — "O 
death,   where    is    thy  sting  ?     O  grave,  where   is  thy  victory  ?  " 

In  regard  to  this  quotation  by  Paul,  it  should  be  said  further, 

that  the  words  as  they  stand  here  do  not  refer  to  the  resurrection, 
but  to  salvation  from  the  ruin  then  impending  over  Israel ;  hut 
Paul's  quotation  applies  them  to  the  resurrection — the  final  triumph 
of  our  frail  mortality  over  death  and  the  grave,  under  the  power  of 
a  resurrection  to*  unfading  life  and  immortality.  The  words  are 
beautifully  applicable  to  the  latter  event,  and  are,  therefore,  fitly 

used. ".Repentance  shall  be  hid  from  mine  eyes,"  must  here  be 

taken  as  God's  own  declaration  concerning  his  purpose  just  before 
expressed :  "  I  will  redeem  my  people  and  be  the  destroyer  of  their 
worst  foes,  even  of  death  and  the  grave,  and  there  sliall  he  no  re- 
versal of  this  purpose." This  has  no  reference  to  God's  hiding 

his  eyes  from  man's  repentance  in  this  world  or  any  other.  "What- 
ever may  be  true  as  to  this,  the  passage  before  us  has  nothing  to 
say  about  it.     All  language  should  be  construed  and  applied  with 

reference  to  the  subject  in  hand. In  this  verse  the  Lord  thinks 

of  Ephraim  as  bringing  down  on  himself  remediless  ruin ;  but  he 
interposes  one  more  promise  :  I  will  yet  redeem  them  even  from 
this  awful  death  if  they  will  repent ;  or  as  the  future  might  be  ren- 
dered— /  would,  on  my  part,  redeem  them,  if  only  they  would 
consent ! 

15.  Though  lie  be  fruitful  among  his  brethren,  an 
east  wind  shall  come,  the  wind  of  the  Lord  shall  come 
up  from  the  wilderness,  and  his  spring  shall  become  dry, 
and  his  fountain  shall  be  dried  up :  he  shall  spoil  the 
treasure  of  all  pleasant  vessels. 

Promise  of  help  avails  not;  so,  again,  the  prophet  predicts  for 
Ephraim  near  impending  judgments.  Though  he  may  have  been 
eminently  fruitful,  i.  e.,  populous  and  prosperous  among  his  brother 
tribes  (said  with  reference  to  the  significance  of  his  name — Ephraim, 
the  prolific,  and  with  reference  also  to  the  facts  of  his  history),  yet 
"  an  east  wind  " — often  the  simoom  coming  in  upon  Palestine  from 
the  eastern  quarter — "  the  wind  of  the  Lord,"  i.  e.  sent  by  him 
especially,  "from  the  desert" — this  shall  "dry  up  his  fountain 
and  spring,"  and  be  the  ruin  of  his  land.  In  oriental  countries  the 
great  scourge  of  the  land  is  drought.     Out  oft*  from  water,  the  land 

becomes  one  wide  waste  of  desolation.     So  of  Ephraim. This 

language  has  special  reference  to  the  Assyrian  power,  which  was 
God's  great  instrument  for  laying  waste  the  kingdom  of  Ephraim. 
To  this  Assyrian  king  the  pronoun  "Ae"  must  bo  referred;  "he 
shall  spoil  the  treasures  of  all  desirable,  valuable  things." 

16.  Samaria  shall  become  desolate;  for  she  hath 
rebelled  against  her  G-od :  they  shall  fall  by  the  sword : 

4 


74  HOSEA.— CHAP.  XIV. 

their  infants  shall  be  dashed  in  pieces,  and  their  women 
with  child  shall  be  ripped  up. 

This  clear,  definite  announcement  of  the  ruin  to  come  on  the 
kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes  for  their  great  sins,  was  obviously  made 
but  a  short  time  before  the  event.  Hosea  lived  and  prophesied  in 
the  midst  of  these  very  scenes.  Thus  closes  what  he  has  to  say  in 
the  line  of  rebuking  the  sins  of  the  people  and  announcing  their 
coming  doom. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

Tins  short  chapter  is  a  fit  and  striking  sequel  to  the  book  of 
Hosea,  almost  the  entire  strain  of  which  sets  forth  the  sins — tho 
ingratitude,  incorrigibleness,  and  the  coming  doom  of  the  apostate 
children  of  Israel.  But  the  Lord  cannot  let  this  stern  message  of 
rebuke  and  threatening  close  without  one  more  call  to  repentance. 
If  the  nation  must  go  down,  like  a  sinking  ship  into  the  angry  bil- 
lows, with  its  vast  freight  of  human  souls,  they  shall  at  least  go 
with  the  sounds  of  offered  mercy  still  ringing  in  their  ears;  and 
further,  the  Lord  would  not  leave  a  shade  of  apology  for  the  infer- 
ence that  his  heart  is  vindictive.  After  so  much  said  of  judgment 
and  wrath,  a  wrong  impression  as  to  these  points  might  be  left  if 
the  book  were  to  close  without  yet  another  testimony  to  his  merci- 
ful compassion.  How  tenderly  careful  not  to  crush  out  hope  from 
even  the  guiltiest  bosom,  saying,  "  I  will  not  contend  forever,  neither 
will  I  be  always  wroth,  for  the  spirit  should  fail  before  me  and  the 

souls  which  I  have  made."     (Isa.  57:  10.) Yet  again:  the  strain 

of  this  closing  chapter  really  gloics  with  the  beauty  and  joy  of  God's 
restored  people  when  they  repose  under  his  shadow  and  drink  at 
his  fountain  of  bliss — all  in  charming  contrast  with  the  utter  blight 
that  falls  on  the  wicked  who  pasture  themselves  on  wind  and  chase 
after  the  cast  wind,  and  whose  best  delights  turn  to  ashes  on  their 
lips.     The  joyous  prosperity  of  God's  penitent  people  is  one  of  the 

strong  recommendations  of  true  piety. And  finally,  the  strain  of 

this  chapter  is  doubtless  intended  as  an  answer  to  the  question 
oftener  thought  than  expressed,  What  will  become  of  the  cause 
and  kingdom  of  God  on  earth?  If  his  people  prove  so  hopelessly 
apostate,  despite  of  such  loving  and  persistent  labor  to  save  them, 
what  is  the  hope  for  God's  kingdom?  Here  we  have  the  answer. 
It  will  yet  be  seen  that  this  kingdom  has  the  infinite  God  for  its 
king.  The  interests  of  truth  and  righteousness  in  the  earth  may 
seem  to  go  down  in  darkness ;  but  they  can  at  worst  only  pass 
under  an  eclipse,  to  shine  out  the  more  gloriously  in  their  own 
appointed  time.  In  this  point  of  view,  this  closing  chapter  must 
be  taken  as  a  prophecy  of  the  ultimate  triumph  of  the  cause  and 
kingdom  of  God  on  earth. 


HOSEA.— CHAP.  XIV.  75 

1.  O  Israel,  return  unto  the  Loud  thy  God  ;  for  thou 
hast  fallen  by.  thine  iniquity. 

"To  the  Lord  thy  God" — thine  own  God  still — a  precious 
reason  for  hope  and  encouragement  in  your  return. 

2.  Take  with  you  words,  and  turn  to  the  Loud  :  say 
unto  him,  Take  away  all  iniquity,  and  receive  us  gra- 
ciously :  so  will  we  render  the  calves  of  our  lips. 

"  Take  words  " — avail  yourself  of  the  aid  which  the  expression 
of  your  feelings  in  fit  language  will  give  you ;  and,  moreover,  do 
this,  not  merely  alone,  each  in  his  solitude ;  but  socially,  the  great 

body  of  the  people  uniting  as  the  heart  of  one  man. To  "render 

the  calves  of  our  lips,"  means  to  respond  to  God's  forgiving  mercy 
with  oral  expressions  of  gratitude  and  praise — offering  our  lips  in- 
stead of  bullocks.  The  word  rendered  "  calves  "  means  bullocks, 
and  is  almost  without  exception  used  of  bullocks  offered  in  sacri- 
fice. The  construction  in  Hebrew  is  not — the  calves  of  our  lips  ; 
but  this — so  will  we  give  back  our  lips  (as)  bullocks — after  the 
manner  in  which  bullocks  are  brought  forth  for  offerings  in  sacrifice 
to  God. 

3.  Asshur  shall  not  save  us ;  we  will  not  ride  upon 
horses :  neither  will  we  say  any  more  to  the  work  of 
our  hands,  Ye  are  our  gods :  for  in  thee  the  fatherless 
findeth  mercy. 

The  returning  penitents  pledge  themselves  specifically  against 
three  sins :  seeking  help  from  Assyria  ;  from  the  use  of  horses  in 
war,  usually  brought  from  Egypt ;  and  saying  any  more  to  what  is 
only  the  work  of  their  own  hands,  "  Ye  are  our  gods."  The  reason 
given  is  ample — "  In  God,  the  fatherless  find  mercy ;  " — the  helpless 
and  forlorn,  like  ourselves,  find  compassion  in  him.  The  word 
used  carries  us  back  to  "  lluhamah,"  as  in  chapters  1  and  2 — this 
being  the  same. 

4.  I  will  heal  their  backsliding,  I  will  love  them 
freely :  for  mine  anger  is  turned  away  from  him. 

The  Lord  himself  now  speaks  in  response  to  their  vows  and 
prayers.     "  Heal  them  o/.their  backslidings  "  means  restore  them 

both  in  heart  and  in  the  external  life. "  Will  love  Wioxw  freely  " 

—the  last  most  expressive  word  having  the  sense  of  spontaneous — 
with  warm  and  full  heart,  even  as  the  blessed  God  of  love  is  wont 
to  love  the  truly  penitent  soul. 

5.  I  will  be  as  the  dew  unto  Israel :  he  shall  grow  as 
the  lily,  and  cast  forth  his  roots  as  Lebanon. 

The  dews  of  Palestine  were  very  heavy,  and  when  in  their  ful- 
ness, went  far  to  supply  the  want  of  rain. The  "lily  "  is  noted 


76  HOSEA.— CIIAP.  XIV. 

for  its  beauty.  Our  Saviour's  reference  to  it  will  be  readily  re- 
called—" Consider  the  lilies  of  the  field,"  &c.  (Matt.  6  :  28,  29). 

"He,"  Israel,  "  shall  shoot  forth  his  roots  as  Lebanon  "—referring 
to  its  lofty  cedars  which  thrust  their  roots  far  out  and  deep  down 
among  the  ancient  foundations  of  the  mountains,  and  so  withstand 
the  tempests  of  ages." 

6.  His  brandies  shall  spread,  and  his  beauty  shall  be 
as  the  olive-tree,  and  his  smell  as  Lebanon. 

The  olive-tree  with  its  lovely  green,  furnishes  another  image  of 
God's  people  under  his  faithful  culture.  Some  of  the  trees  and 
shrubs  of  Lebanon  were  fragrant,  and  perfumed  the  atmosphere  of 
the  mountain,  as  is  indicated  here,  "the  smell  of  Lebanon." 

7.  They  that  dwell  under  his  shadow  shall  return ; 
they  shall  revive  as  the  corn,  and  grow  as  the  vine :  the 
scent  thereof  shall  he  as  the  wine  of  Lebanon. 

"Eis  shadow  "  is  that  of  God— perhaps  suggested  by  the  tacit 

allusion  to  the  cedars  of  Lebanon,  whose  shade  is  magnificent. 

The  word  rendered  scent,  in  the  last  clause,  is  memorial — the  same 
used  12  :  5 — meaning,  they  shall  be  renowned  in  fame,  as  the  wine 
of  Lebanon  which  has  to  this  day  the  highest  repute. 

8.  Ephraim  shall  say,  What  have  I  to  do  any  more 
with  idols  %  I  have  heard  him,  and  observed  him  :  I  am 
like  a  green  fir-tree.     From  me  is  thy  fruit  found. 

Ephraim  renounces  idols  for  ever.     The  Lord  takes  note  of  this, 

and  will  observe — watch  over  him  with  a  loving  father's  oare. 

The  fir-tree  is  an  evergreen, — setting  forth  here  that  God's  love 
and  care  are  ever  enduring — green  through  all  the  year.  And  if 
the  thought  should  arise,  "  But  it  yields  no  fruit " — the  Lord  at 
once  forestalls  that  objection.  "From  me  is  thy  fruit  found;"  all 
fruit  comes,  not  from  creatures,  even  the  best  and  surest  of  them, 
but  from  myself. 

9.  Who  is  wise,  and  he  shall  understand  these  things  f 
prudent,  and  he  shall  know  them  ?  for  the  ways  of  the 
Loud  are  right,  and  the  just  shall  walk  in  them :  but  the 
transgressors  shall  fall  therein. 

The  interrogatives  here  call  the  reader's  special  attention.  The 
subject-matter  of  this  book — God's  ways  of  judgment  and  of  mercy 
toward  his  people,  wayward  or  penitent — are  here  set  before  you  ; 
whoever  is  wise  shall  understand  them  and  learn  their  lessons  of 

great  truth  and  of  practical  life. For  God's  ways  are  altogether 

right ;  the  just,  in  the  sense  of  upright,  honest,  and  sincere,  shall 
walk  in  them  with  peace  and  gladness  through  usefulness  and  honor 
here  to  a  blissful  end  hereafter;  but  transgressors,  whom  no  truth 


HOSEA.— CHAP.  xiv.  7Y 

can  reach  to  bless,  shall  stumble  and  fall  under  the  very  influences 
that  bring  salvation  to  the  just. 

Such  are  the  lessons  of  this  richly  instructive  book  of  Hosea 
We  shah  need  to  go  far  to  find  other  writings  more  forcible,  more 
tersely  written,  more  beautiful  in  their  poetic  imagery,  more  burn- 
ing in  their  rebukes  of  sin,  and  more  glowing  in  their  testimonies 
to  the  deep  compassion  and  yearning  love  of  God  toward  sinful 
man. 


JOEL 


IHTBODUCTION. 

The  precise  date  and  duration  of  the  prophetic  life  of  Joel  may 
be  conjectured,  but  cannot  be  certainly  known.  He  is  not  named 
elsewhere  in  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures.  His  prophecy  seems  to 
be  quoted  both  by  Amos  (compare  Amos  1  :  2  with  Joel  3 :  1G)  and 
by  Isaiah  (compare  Isaiah  13 :  6  with  Joel  1 :  15).  Amos  prophe- 
sied at  some  period  within  the  long  reigns  of  Uzziah  of  Judah,  b.  c. 
811-759,  and  of  Jeroboam  II.  of  Israel,  b.  c.  825-784.  Hence,  if 
the  writings  of  Joel  were  in  the  hands  of  Amos,  he  cannot  have 
prophesied  later  than  the  reign  of  Uzziah ;  he  may  have  been  many 
years  earlier.  His  book  shows  that  he  prophesied  in  Judah,  and 
that  the  temple  worship  was  then  kept  up.  Remarkably,  the  book 
does  not  notice  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes  nor  the  sin  of  idola- 
try. The  people  arc  exhorted  to  repentance,  to  fasting,  weeping, 
and  rending  of  the  heart.  It  may  be  inferred  that  in  such  a  book 
idolatry  would  have  been  rebuked  if  it  had  been  then  prevalent. 
Some  have  argued,  from  his  silence  respecting  the  Syrian  power, 
while  he  mentions  Tyre  and  Sidon  (3  :  4)  as  enemies,  that  he  must 
have  lived  before  their  first  invasion  of  Judah  in  the  time  of  Ahab 
(reigned  b.  c.  918-897).  See  1  Kings,  chapters  20-22.  But  this 
cannot  be  conclusive,  since  he  might  know  the  Syrian  kingdom  as 
an  enemy,  and  yet  not  mention  it.  Some  weight  is  rightly  given  to 
the  fact  that  the  compilers  of  these  sacred  books  have  placed  Joel 
between  Hosea  and  Amos.  In  general,  they  observed  the  order  of 
time,  and  it  is  safe  to  assume  that,  living  so  near  the  age  of  those 
prophets,  they  must  have  known  with  a  fair  measure  of  accuracy 


JOEL.— CHAP.   I.  79 

when  Joel  lived  and  wrote,  This  compilation  is  usually  ascribed 
to  Ezra  and  his  associates — perhaps  we  should  rather  say,  Ezra  and 
his  successors.  The  earliest  historical  notice  of  a  collection  known 
as  "  the  Twelve  Minor  Prophets,"  is  in  the  book  of  "  Ecclesiasti- 
cus,"  or  "  Wisdom  of  Jesus,  Son  of  Sirach "  (49 :  10),  in  these 
words :  "And  of  the  Twelve  Prophets  let  the  memorial  be  blessed, 
and  let  their  bones  flourish  again  out  of  their  place,  for  they  com- 
forted Jacob  and  delivered  them  by  assured  hope."  The  original 
of  this  book  bears  date  180  b.  o.  But  there  is  good  reason  to  sup- 
pose this  compilation  to  be  not  much  if  any  later  than  Malachi, 
about  420  b.  o.  Joel  may  have  been  somewhat  earlier  than  Hosea, 
and  yet  be  placed  after  him  in  order  because  shorter  or  for  other 
reasons.  I  incline  to  assign  him  an  earlier  date  than  Hosea.  Pos- 
sibly (not  probably)  the  famine  which  he  portrays  so  vividly  was 
that  terrible  one  of  seven  years  referred  to  (2  Kings  8  : 1)  in  the 
reign  of  Jehosaphat  in  Judah  (reigned  b.  o.  914-891)  and  of  Jeho- 
ram,  son  of  Ahab,  in  Israel  (reigned  b.  c.  89G-884).  "With  these 
only  approximate  results  I  pass  the  question  of  date. 

Another  question,  at  once  more  difficult  and  more  important, 
respects  the  principles  of  interpretation  which  shall  rule  throughout 
the  first  two  chapters.  On  this  depends  the  determination  of  the 
primary  and  proper  sense.  On  this  point  very  able  commentators 
disagree.  It  is  admitted  by  all  that  the  language  seems  to  describe 
a  fearful  visitation  of  locusts,  coupled  with  drought  and  consequent 
famine.  But  some,  with  Dr.  Hengstenberg,  hold  that  there  were 
no  real  locusts.  Foreign  enemies  "present  themselves  to  the  in- 
ward contemplation  of  the  prophet  as  an  all-devouring  swarm  of 
locusts." — (Vol.  3  :  103.)  That  is,  Joel  saw  the  locusts  only  in  vis- 
ion;  the  only  real  visitation  was  that  of  armed  men — the  real 

scourge  was  war. Others,  with  Dr.  Henderson,  find  real  locusts, 

desolating  the  land,  throughout  chapter  1.  In  chapter  2,  armed 
bands  are  the  real  thing,  but  they  are  compared  to  locusts.  The 
locust  bands,  then  recent,  furnish  the  imagery  by  which  they  are 

described.- Others  still  suppose  that  real  locusts  are  definitely 

described  throughout  chapter  1,  and  also  2 : 1-27.  Yet  this  being  a 
most  fearful  visitation,  a  striking  and  even  appalling  proof  of  God's 
power  to  inflict  judgments  on  guilty  men  and  guilty  nations,  it  be- 
came naturally  suggestive  of  what  the  wicked  have  to  fear  in  some 
other  and  more  terrible  "  great  day  of  the  Lord."  "Without  ad- 
mitting the  doctrine  of  a  doable  sense,  i.  e.}  two  distinct  and  coor- 


80  JOEL.— CHAP.  I. 

dinate  senses  of  the  same  words  and  phrases,  it  may  yet  be  reason- 
ably held  that  a  fearful  devastation  by  locusts  may  suggest  the  ruin 
brought  on  a  country  by  war,  or  by  those  unknown  agencies  of 
destruction  which  God  has  in  store  for  the  guilty  in  his  magazines 

of  wrath. This  latter  view  I  accept,  constrained  in  general  by 

the  fact  that  this  seems  to  be  the  obvious  sense  of  the  passage. 

My  plan  of  commentary  precludes  any  extended  discussion  of 
opinions  from  which  I  dissent,  yet  briefly  I  must  reject  the  first 
theory  above  uanied  as  too  foreign  from  the  obvious  sense  of  the 
language.  There  is  no  hint  that  the  locusts  are  seen  in  vision  only, 
and  stand  merely  as  symbols  and  figures  of  armed  men.  Heng- 
stenberg  speaks  of  it  as  an  "  allegory,"  but  the  manner  and  air  of 
an  allegory  are  wanting.  Every  allegory  should  furnish  clear  evi- 
dence of  its  being  such.     Besides  this,  an  allegory  should  not  give 

a  minute  natural  history  of  the  locust. The  second  theory  fails 

to  harmonize  with  the  drift  of  the  description,  for  the  second  chap- 
ter gives  us  locusts  as  clearly  as  the  first.  In  vs.  4-9  these  locusts 
are  compared  to  armed  men — not  armed  men  to  locusts — a  distinc- 
tion which  Dr.  Henderson  seems  to  ignore  or  at  least  overlook. 

Other  remarks  bearing  on  the  true  interpretation  may  be  suggested 
in  the  notes  on  particular  passages. 

In  this  book  there  will  be  very  little  occasion  to  comment  on 
the  meaning  of  particular  words  and  clauses.  The  received  trans- 
lation in  most  cases  is  excellent,  and  gives  the  sense  of  the  original 
with  accuracy.  The  point  of  chief  difficulty  and  of  greatest  mo- 
ment is,  to  arrive  at  the  ultimate  sense  and  instruction — the  mind 
of  the  Spirit  of  truth. 


CI1APTEK    I 

A  plague  of  locusts  comes  upon  the  land,  unparalleled  in  its 
kind;  they  are  described,  vs.  6,  7,  their  devastations,  vs.  9-12,  16- 
20,  and  various  classes  of  the  people  are  summoned  to  mourning, 
vs.  5,  8,  9,  13,  and  to  fasting,  v.  11. 

1.  The  word  of  the  Lord  that  came  to  Joel  the  son 
of  Petlmel. 

With  the  greatest  brevity  we  are  simply  told  that  this  book  is 
the  word  of  God  tnat  came  to  Joel. 

2.  Hear  this,  ye  old  men,  and  give  ear,  all  ye  inhab- 


JOEL.— CHAP.  I.  81 

itants  of  tlie  land.  Hath  this  been  in  your  days,  or 
even  in  the  days  of  your  fathers  ? 

3.  Tell  ye  your  children  of  it,  and  let  your  children 
tell  their  children,  and  their  children  another  generation. 

"Hath  this  been  in  your  days?"  must  mean,  Hath  any  such 
thing  as  this  been — any  visitation  so  fearful  and  so  desolating  ?  He 
appeals  to  the  oldest  men  to  say  if,  either  in  their  days  or  in  the 
days  of  their  fathers,  so  great  a  judgment  in  its  hind  has  befallen 
the  land.     V.  4  opens  the  description. 

4.  That  which  the  palmer-worm  hath  left  hath  the 
locust  eaten ;  and  that  which  the  locust  hath  left  hath 
the  canker-worm  eaten ;  and  that  which  the  canker- 
worm  hath  left  hath  the  caterpiller  eaten. 

Successive  armies  of  locusts  come  upon  the  land,  each,  accord- 
ing to  the  strong  language  of  this  description,  devouring  all  that 

the  next  preceding  had  left. Great  labor  has  been  expended  on 

the  natural  history  of  the  locusts  spoken  of  in  the  Bible.  They 
appear  under  about  ten  different  names,  but  whether  these  names 
represent  ten  distinct  species  remains  in  doubt.     This  point  has  no 

very  great  practical  importance. It  is  important,  however,  to 

the  full  impression  of  these  chapters,  that  the  power  of  these  locusts 
for  devastation  should  be  understood.  One  author  says:  "Man 
can  conquer  the  tiger  and  the  lion  ;  can  turn  the  course  of  mighty 
rivers,  and  chain  the  winds  to  his  car,  and  can  play  with  the  light- 
nings of  heaven,  but  he  is  nothing  before  an  army  of  locusts." 
Another  says :  "  In  some  regions  of  the  East  the  whole  earth  is  at 
times  covered  with  locusts  for  the  space  of  several  leagues,  often  to 
the  depth  of  four,  sometimes  of  six  or  seven  inches.  Their  ap- 
proach, with  a  noise  like  the  rushing  of  a  torrent,  darkens  the  hori- 
zon, hides  the  light  of  the  sun,  and  casts  an  awful  gloom  like  that 
of  an  eclipse  over  the  fields."  Major  Moore,  when  at  Poonah,  had 
an  opportunity  of  seeing  an  immense  army  of  locusts  which  rav- 
aged the  Mahratta  country,  and  was  supposed  to  have  come  from 
Arabia.  Their  column  extended  five  hundred  miles,  and  so  com- 
pact was  it  when  on  the  wing,  that,  like  an  eclipse,  it  completely 
hid  the  sun.  Pliny  calls  them  "  a  scourge  in  the  hand  of  an  in- 
censed Deity."  Before  them  all  verdure  disappears;  the  wL  le 
country  puts  on  the  appearance  of  being  burnt.  Fire  itself  devours 
not  so  fast.  Not  a  vestige  of  vegetation  is  left  behind  them.  In 
a  few  hours  they  eat  up  every  green  thing,  and  consign  the  mis- 
erable inhabitants  to  inevitable  famine.  "  The  husbandmen  make 
every  effort  possible  to  stay  or  turn  aside  these  foes  or  destroy 
them ;  they  build  fires  or  raise  a  dense  smoke  to  withstand  them, 
or  dig  trenches  and  fill  them  with  water,  but  all  to  no  purpose ;  for 
the  trenches  are  soon  filled  and  the  fires  extinguished  by  infinite 
swarms  succeeding  one  another,  and  forming  a  bed  on  their  fields 
4* 


§2  JOEL.— CHAP.   I. 

of  six  or  seven  inches  in  thickness.  "When  they  die  the  effluvia 
becomes  intolerable,  and  often  has  occasioned  a  pestilence  fearfully 
destructive  to  human  life."  These  few  facts  will  suffice  to  show 
that  the  locust  is  one  of  the  most  terrible  agents  for  destruction  in 
the  hands  of  the  Almighty. 

5.  Awake,  ye  drunkards,  and  weep;  and  howl,  all 
ye  drinkers  of  wine,  because  of  the  new  wine ;  for  it  is 
cut  off  from  your  mouth. 

Wine-drinkers  are  called  to  weep  and  howl,  because  their  new 
wine,  called  "  must,"  fails  them. 

6.  For  a  nation  is  come  up  upon  my  land,  Btrong, 
and  without  number,  whose  teeth  a/re  the  teeth  of  a  lion, 
and  he  hath  the  cheek  teeth  of  a  great  lion. 

7.  He  hath  laid  my  vine  waste,  and  harked  my  fig 
tree:  lie  hath  made  it  clean  bare,  and  cast  it  away  ;  the 
branches  thereof  are  made  white. 

The  word  here  rendered  "  nation  "  is  usually  applied  to  heathen 
nations,  considered  as  the  enemies  of  God  and  of  his  people.  In 
this  case  it  implies  that  they  are  public  enemies,  a  scourge  sent  <>f 
God  upon  his  land.  They  are  strong  by  reason  of  their  great  num- 
bers; their  teeth  are  terrible  because  of  the  devastations  they  can 
make.     Stripping  off  all  the  foliage  and  even  the  hark,  they  leave 

only  a  mass  of  ruin-  and  hare  white  branches. The  grasshopper 

of  onr  country  hears  a  close  resemblance  to  the  oriental  Locust. 
The  latter,  however,  appear  in  immensely  greater  numbers 
make  their  desolations  absolutely  complete  ami  universal. 

s.  Lament  like  a  virgin  girded  with  sackcloth  for 
the  husband  of  her  yonth. 

9.  The  meat-offering  and  the  drink-offering  is  cut 
off  from  the  house  of  the  Lord;  the  priests,  the  Lord's 
ministers,  mourn. 

1<>.  The  field  is  wasted,  the  land  mourneth  ;  for  the 
corn  LS  wasted  :  the  new  wine  is  dried  ii}),  the  oil 
languisheth. 

By  a  change  k  theusageofour  English  word  "meat,"  within  the 

two  hundred  years,  ii  has  come  to  mean  the  flesh  of  animals. 
Ancientlyil  was  used  in  the  genera]  sense  of  food,  and  sometimes  in 

p  scific  sense  of  vegt  talk  food.  Thus  (Gen.  1  :  l"»,  80)  (hid  said,  "  I 
have  given  to  y>.u."  /. ,-.  toman,  V  every  herb,  and  the  fruit  of  trees, 
lor  meat ;""  and   "to  every  beast,"  &c.,  "have  1  given  every  green 

herb   for  meat." vo  here,    this   "meat-offering"  consisted  of 

flour,  meal,  or  cakes,  with  oil,  frankincense,  but  not  a  particle  of 
flesh.     Bei  ept  il   all  away. Those  who  loved 


JOEL.— CHAP.  I.  83 

the  service  of  the  Lord  were  specially  afflicted,  because  they  were 
no  longer  able  to  bring  to  his  temple  the  accustomed  and  required 
offerings. 

11.  Be  ye  ashamed,  O  ye  husbandmen ;  howl,  O  ye 
vine-dressers,  for  the  wheat  and  for  the  barley;  because 
the  harvest  of  the  field  is  perished. 

Confounded  expresses  the  exact  sense,  rather  than  "  ashamed," 
since  shame  properly  implies  some  sense  of  guilt.  Here  the  idea  is 
that  they  were  at  their  wit's  end — all  their  labor  had  come  to 
naught. 

12.  The  vine  is  dried  up  and  the  fig-tree  languish- 
ed ;  the  pomegranate-tree,  the  palm-tree  also,  and  the 
apple-tree,  even  all  the  trees  of  the  field,  are  withered  : 
because  joy  is  withered  away  from  the  sons  of  men. 

13.  Gird  yourselves,  and  lament,  ye  priests :  howl, 
ye  ministers  of  the  altar :  come,  lie  all  night  in  sack- 
cloth, ye  ministers  of  my  God  :  for  the  meat-offering  and 
the  drink-offering  is  withholden  from  the  house  of  your 
God. 

14.  Sanctify  ye  a  fast,  call  a  solemn  assembly,  gather 
the  elders  and.  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  into  the 
house  of  the  Lord  your  God,  and  cry  unto  the  Lord. 

The  evil  was  by  far  the  more  serious,  since  not  only  the  vege- 
tables— annual  plants — but  trees  of  many  years'  growth,  withered 
and  died  under  this  fearful  scourge,  so  that  joy — the  joy  men  feel 
in  these  sources  of  earthly  good — withered  away. Here  is  an- 
other call  to  mourning  over  these  calamities,  and  especially  and 
most  pertinently  to  fasting,  and  to  a  general  gathering  in  the  house 
of  God  to  lift  up  their  prayer  to  him.  Nothing  can  be  more  ap- 
propriate in  seasons  of  calamity  than  to  humble  our  hearts  before 
the  Lord,  and  seek  his  face  with  deep  humility  for  our  great  sins. 

15.  Alas  for  the  day  !  for  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  at 
hand,  and  as  a  destruction  from  the  Almighty  shall  it 
come. 

The  locusts  being  spoken  of  as  present  and  this  "  day  of  the 
Lord  "  as  being  only  "  near"  grave  questions  arise  here  ;  viz. :  What 
is  this  "day  of  the  Lord"  which  is  near,  but  not  (as  it  would  seem) 
yet  present  ?  Is  it  the  visitation  of  locusts,  and  nothing  beyond 
and  greater?  If  something  beyond  and  greater,  then  what  pre- 
cisely is  it  ?  Does  the  prophet  intend  to  make  his  description  of  it 
definite,  as  of  some  special  event ;  or  rather  to  leave  it  indefinite, 
designing  only  to  impress  the  thought  of  tjie  awfulness  and  terror 
of  God's  retributive  judgments,  however  and  whenever  sent? 


84  JOEL.— CHAP.  I. 

If  there  were  nothing  else  in  Joel  but  this  (v.  15),  looking  tow- 
ard another  great  day  of  the  Lord,  there  would  be  no  special 
difficulty  in  interpreting  this  of  the  locusts  exclusively.  For  it 
might  be  urged  that  the  locusts  were  even  then  scarcely  present, 
and  the  terribleness  of  this  scourge  was  still  in  the  nearer  future ; 
that  the  tenses  in  Hebrew  and  especially  in  prophecy  are  not  used 
with  such  definite  precision  as  in  most  other  languages ;  also,  that 
the  next  verses  continue  the  subject  of  locusts  and  the  drought  as 

if  no  other  thought   had   been  before  the  writer's  mind. But 

this  verse  does  not  stand  alone  in  reference  to  the  question  now 
before  us.  The  passage  (2:1)  repeats — "For  the  day  of  the  Lord 
cometh,  for  it  is  nigh  at  hand ;"  and,  of  more  weight  still  (in  2 :  31) 
we  read :  "  The  sun  shall  be  turned  into  darkness,  and  the  moon 
into  blood,  before  the  great  and  terrible  day  of  the  Lord  come." 
This  plainly  shows  that  the  prophet  has  some  thought  of  another 
great  and  fearful,  but  somewhat  remote,  "day  of  the  Lord,"  besides 
this  in  which  locusts  are  the  manifestation  of  his  retributive  ven- 
geance.  Here,  then,  are  various  allusions  to  a  "great  day  of  the 

Lord,"  to  be  explained  and  accounted  for.  Do  we  not  find  the  key 
to  their  exposition  in  those  laws  of  mental  association  which,  under 
the  awe-inspiring  power  of  a  present  judgment,  like  this  of  locusts, 
carry  the  mind  over  to  the  more  awful  future — to  the  great  power 
of  Almighty  God  to  bring  forth  from  the  storehouse  of  his  plagues 
far  more  terrible,  annihilating  judgments,  and  which  make  every 
mind  feel  that  God's  judgments  are  near  at  hand?  This  law  of 
mind  is  well  known.  The  effect  of  any  present  judgment  is  to 
make  all  future  judgments  seem  near.  It  leads  the  mind  to  antici- 
pate them  with  confidence,  to  take  this  present  one  as  itself  a  proph- 
ecy and  pledge  of  more  and  other  in  the  future,  and  to  lose  sight 
of  whatever  time  may  intervene  before  they  come.  Thus,  a  single 
death-bed  scene  makes  death  seem  near  to  ourselves.  Sudden 
deaths  by  hundreds,  as  in  the  awful  cholera  pestilence,  make  stout 
hearts  quail  under  a  sense  of  God's  power  and  justice,  so  that  it 
shall  seem  that  death  and  judgment  arc  at  the  door.  Moreover,  a 
guilty  conscience  fearfully  heightens  this  sense  of  the  great  day  of 

the  Lord  as  near  at  hand. Thus  powerfully  suggestive  was  this 

fearful  day  of  visitation  by  locusts.  It  brought  fresh  to  the  proph- 
et's mind  a  sense  of  the  awful  guilt  of  his  people,  and  of  the 
certainty  and  nearness  of  God's  sorer  judgments.  And,  moreover, 
as  he  wrote  for  moral  imprmion,  and  as  the  divine  Spirit  had  this 
main  if  not  sole  purpose,  it  need  not  surprise  us  that  he  deems  it 
of  no  special  importance  to  speak  more  definitely  of  the  time  or 
manner  of  these  yet  future  visitations  of  judgment.  Suffice  it  if  lie 
can  impress  on  the  souls  of  wicked  men  the  solemn  thought  that 
God's  great  day  of  judgment  to  them  cannot  be  long  delayed ! 

Yet  further,  as  bearing  on  the  sense  of  this  verse,  let  it  be  noted 
that  the  most  fearful  thing  in  any  form  of  judgment  is  that  it  comes 
from  God,  and  is  a  prrof  of  his  stern  displeasure.  The  conscious 
sense  of  his  wrath  burning  against  us  is  of  all  things  most  awful. 


JOEL.— CHAP.  I.  85 

This  becomes  fitly  the  all-absorbing  thought.  Any  form  of  judg- 
ment may  suffice  to  awaken  this  feeling.  Once  awakened  in  a 
consciously  guilty  bosom,  the  man  knows  and  feels  that  more  and 
greater  demonstrations  of  God's  displeasure  must  be  near. 

In  view  of  these  laws  of  mind  and  of  their  relations  to  the 
question  in  hand,  I  see  in  this  verse,  and  also  in  2 : 1,  no  evidence 
of  allusion  to  any  other  specific  day,  as  e.  g.  the  invasion  of  the 
Assyrian  army.  To  suppose  this,  seems  foreign  from  the  general 
drift  of  the  prophet's  thought.  Besides,  if  lie  had  wished  to  predict 
that  invasion,  it  is  marvellous  that  he  should  not  have  made  his 
statements  more  definite. The  original  words  rendered  "destruc- 
tion "  and  "  almighty  "  are  from  kindred  roots — as  if  we  should  say, 
"  a  mighty  ruin  from  the  Almighty  hand.". 

16.  Is  not  the  meat  cut  off  before  our  eyes,  yea, 
joy  and  gladness  from  the  house  of  our  God  ? 

The  same  idea  as  in  v.  9,  resumed  and  reiterated  interrogatively 
— Is  it  not  so  ?  The  prophet  reverts  to  the  subject  in  hand  (vs.  2-14) 
as  if  no  thought  of  any  other  day  had  come  in  to  divert  it.  This 
fact  shows  that  v.  15  is  no  new  and  foreign  subject,  but  only  some- 
thing naturally  suggested  by  his  main  theme. 

17.  The  seed  is  rotten  under  their  clods,  the  garners 
are  laid  desolate,  the  barns  are  broken  down ;  for  the 
corn  is  withered. 

The  effects  of  extreme  drought,  coupled  witli  the  work  of  the 
locusts.     No  seed  vegetates  ;  all  harvests  fail. 

18.  How  do  the  beasts  groan  !  the  herds  of  cattle  are 
perplexed,  because  they  have  no  pasture  ;  yea,  the  nocks 
of  sheep  are  made  desolate. 

The  "cattle  are  perplexed" — the  original  word,  looking,  how- 
ever, not  so  much  to  a  state  of  mind  as  to  its  manifestations.  They 
wander  up  and  down  as  if  bewildered  and  at  their  wit's  end. 

19.  O  Loed,  to  thee  will  I  cry :  for  the  fire  hath  de- 
voured the  pastures  of  the  wilderness,  and  the  flame  hath 
burned  all  the  trees  of  the  field. 

20.  The  beasts  of  the  field  cry  also  unto  thee  :  for  the 
rivers  of  waters  are  dried  up,  and  the  fire  hath  devoured 
the  pastures  of  the  wilderness. 

The  prophet  declares  his  purpose  to  cry  unto  the  Lord  for  help 
and  mercy,  for  the  twofold  reason  that  his  heart  feels  so,  and  that 
he  would  lead  the  people  also  to  prayer  for  help. 

Thus  closes  this  chapter— a  most  graphic,  life-like  description  of 
.a  fearful  devastation  by  drought  and  locusts — so  severe  and  so  ter- 
rible as  to  impress  the  mind  with  a  sense  of  the  weakness  of  man 


8G  JOEL.— CHAP.  II. 

before  the  great  and  dreadful  God,  and  of  his  guilt  before  One  too 
holy  to  pass  over  sin  without  manifesting  his  sore  displeasure. 


CHAPTER    II. 

The  great  alarm  is  sounded  forth  from  the  temple  as  usual  in  the 
presence  of  some  dire  calamity  (v.  1)  ;  a  more  full  description  of 
the  locusts  is  given — in  part  personal  (vs.  4-9,  and  in  part  general 
and  in  the  line  of  their  effects  (vs.  2,  3,  10,  11)  :  the  Lord  exhorts 
the  people  to  return  to  him  (vs.  12-14).  A  solemn  assembly  is 
called  for  fasting  and  prayer  (vs.  15-17) ;  the  Lord  answers  gra- 
ciously (vs.  18-20),  and  passes  over  to  rich  promises  of  mercy,  in- 
cluding rain  and  abundant  harvests  (vs.  21-27) ;  and  finally  to  the 
fuller  promise  of  his  Spirit  in  the  latter  time  (vs.  23,  28-32). 

1.  Blow  ye  the  trumpet  in  Zion,  and  sound  an  alarm 
in  my  holy  mountain  :  let  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  land 
tremble  :  for  the  day  of  the  Loed  cometh,  for  it  is  nigh 
at  band ; 

"  Blowing  the  trumpet  and  sounding  an  alarm "  from  the 
temple  was  of  divine  appointment  in  the  law  given  through  Moses. 
(See  Num.  10 : 1-10.)  It  convened  the  people  to  consider  and  act 
upon  any  case  of  general  calamity,  and  had  the  promise — "  Ye  shall 
be  remembered  before  the  Lord  your  God,  and  ye  shall  be  saved 

from  your  enemies." The  near  "  coming  of  the  day  of  the  Lord" 

is  analogous  to  chap.  1 :  15,  and  must  be  explained  in  the  same  way. 

2.  A  day  of  darkness  and  of  gloominess,  a  day  of 
clouds' and  of  thick  darkness,  as  the  morning  spread  upon 
the  mountains :  a  great  people  and  a  strong  ;  there  hath 
not  been  ever  the  like,  neither  shall  be  any  more  after 
it,  even  to  the  years  of  many  generations. 

Darkness  is  often,  with  the  Hebrew  poets  especially,  a  symbol 
of  calamity.  In  this  verse,  however,  there  is  no  occasion  to  inter- 
pret it  as  a  symbol.  It  is  rather  actual — the  darkness  produced  by 
immense  clouds  of  locusts,  obscuring  the  light  of  day.  This  dark- 
ness came  on  and  passed  over  the  land  "  as  the  light  of  morning 
spread  over  the  mountains  ;"  where  the  point  of  the  comparison  is 
not  in  any  supposed  resemblance  between  darkness  and  light,  for 
there  is  none  ;  but  in  the  manner  of  its  coming  on  over  the  face  of 
the  earth.  As  the  morning  light  sweeps  up  from  the  east,  first 
gilding  the  mountain-tops,  and  then  quietly  pervading  the  whole 
face  of  the  earth,  so  this  darkness  swept  on  as  an  avalanche  of 
cloud,  and  rested  like  a  dark  pall  of  gloom  and  terror  on  the  whole 
land. That  this  visitation  should  be  described  as  surpassing  anj 


JOEL.— CHAP.  II.  87 

ever  known  before,  and  even  any  that  should  come  after  for  many- 
generations,  need  not  surprise  us.  It  may  have  been  strictly  true  of 
it  while  it  lasted,  and  in  reference  to  judgments  of  this  sort.  More- 
over, men  suffering  under  any  fearful  infliction,  naturally  express 
themselves  in  such  strong  terms. 

3.  A  fire  clevoureth  before  tliem  ;  and  behind  tliem  a 
flame  burnetii :  the  land  is  as  the  garden  of  Eden  before 
them,  and  behind  them  a  desolate  wilderness  ;  yea,  and 
nothing  shall  escape  them. 

"Fire"  and  "flame"  are  probably  figurative;  the  desolation 
they  wrought  being  like  that  of  lire  on  the  prairies,  as  if  fire  swept 
on  before  "them,  and  again  behind  them,  leaving  absolutely  noth- 
ing more  to  be  destroyed.  Exquisitely  forcible  and  touching  is 
tliis — the  land  seen  in  all  the  beauty  of  Eden  before  them,  but  be- 
hind them  only  a  desolate  wilderness. 

4.  The  appearance  of  them  is  as  the  appearance  of 
horses ;  and  as  horsemen  so  shall  they  run. 

5.  Like  the  noise  of  chariots  on  the  tops  of  moun- 
tains shall  they  leap,  like  the  noise  of  a  flame  of  fire 
that  devoureth  the  stubble,  as  a  strong  people  set  in 
battle  array. 

Locusts  have  been  often  compared  to  horses,  as  in  Eev.  9:7:— 
"The  shapes  of  the  locusts  were  like  unto  horses  prepared  for 
battle."  They  are  fleet  like  horsemen,  moving  rapidly  with  the 
wind. The  figure  of  an  army  moving  in  solid  phalanx  and  fear- 
ful array,  is  constantly  present  to  the-mind.  Yet  the  thing  described 
is  an  army,  not  of  men,  but  of  locusts.  The  locusts  are  like  armed 
horsemen.  He  does  not  say  that  armed  horsemen  are  coming  on, 
and  are  like  locusts. 

6.  Before  their  face  the  people  shall  be  much  pained : 
all  faces  shall  gather  blackness. 

The  word  rendered  "  blackness  "  means  rather  a  glow  or  flush 
of  anxiety.  The  sense  is— the  people  become  intensely  agitated 
with  fear  and  alarm. 

7.  They  shall  run  like  mighty  men  ;  they  shall  climb 
the  wall  like  men  of  war ;  and  they  shall  march  every 
one  on  his  ways,  and  they  shall  not  break  their  ranks : 

8.  Neither  shall  one  thrust  another ;  they  shall  walk 
every  one  in  his  path:  and  when  they  fall  upon  the 
sword,  they  shall  not  be  woimded. 

9.  They  shall  run  to  and  fro  in  the  city ;  they  shall 


88  JOEL.— CHAP.  II. 

rim  upon  the  wall,  they  shall  climb  up  upon  the  houses ; 
they  shall  enter  in  at  the  windows  like  a  thief. 

It  cannot  be  reasonably  doubted  that  tins  is,  and  is  intended  to 
be,  a  closely  accurate  description  of  locusts,  as  they  sweep  along  in 
their  onward  march  for  devastation.  Every  feature  is  in  its  place, 
made  true  to  the  reality  by  a  master's  hand.  That  the  sword  avails 
nothing  against  them  goes  to  confirm  this  view,  and  to  shut  off  the 
possibility  of  applying  the  description  to  the  Assyrian  army. 

10.  The  earth  shall  quake  before  them  ;  the  heavens 
shall  tremble :  the  sun  and  the  moon  shall  be  dark,  and 
the  stars  shall  withdraw  their  shining  : 

Strong  poetic  imagery  should  not  be  pressed  to  an  extremely 
literal  sense.  In  this  passage,  we  need  not  insist  that  the  locusts 
produced  an  earthquake,  or  any  real  concussion  of  the  heavens. 
Jerome  says  pertinently  on  this  passage :  "  Not  that  the  locusts 
have  so  much  power  that  they  can  move  the  heavens  and  shake  the 
earth ;  but  to  those  who  are  in  great  suffering  and  extreme  terror, 
it  will  seem  that  the  heavens  are  falling  and  the  earth  tossing  under 

their  feet." Strong  feeling  naturally  expresses  itself  in  strong 

language.  The  darkening  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  is  a  com- 
mon figure  for  a  great  calamity ;  as,  on  the  other  hand,  sun-rising 
and  the  joyous  light  of  day  are  symbols  of  prosperity.  The  reader 
may  find  scriptural  examples  in  abundance,  e.  g.,  of  the  former 
class— Jer.  4:  28;  Ezek.  32:  7,  8;  Isa.  13:  10;  Matt.  24:  20. 

The  consternation  commonly  felt  for  many  ages  when  an  eclipse 
occurred,  shows  how  forcible  this  figure  must  have  been  in  ancient 
times.  Moreover,  there  may  be  here  a  tacit  allusion  to  the  actual 
darkening  of  the  heavens,  occasioned  by  the  flight  of  countless 
myriads  of  locusts. 

11.  And  the  Lord  shall  utter  his  voice  before  his 
army :  for  his  camp  is  very  great :  for  he  is  strong  that 
executeth  his  word :  for  the  day  of  the  Loud  is  great  and 
very  terrible  ;  and  who  can  abide  it  % 

That  "  his  army  "  is  none  other  than  the  locusts,  is  put  beyond 
a  doubt  by  the  Lord  himself  (v.  25),  where  he  says  of  the  locust, 
caterpillar,  etc.,  "  my  great  army  which  I  sent  among  you."  The 
words  in  Hebrew  as  well  as  in  the  English  version  are  the  same  in 
both  passages.  This  locust  army  is  strong  to  execute  the  mandate 
of  Jehovah.  Sent  by  him,  they  are  terribly  efficient  in  devastating 
the  land. This  "  day  of  the  Lord  ".can  look  to  nothing  else  pri- 
marily save  the  visitation  of  locusts. "  Abide  "  is  here  used  in 

the  sense  of  endure. 

12.  Therefore  also  now,  saith  the  Loud,  turn  ye  even 
to  me  with  all  your  heart,  and  with  fasting,  and  with 
weeping,  and  with  mourning : 


JOEL.— CHAP.  II.  89 

13.  And  rend  your  heart,  and  not  your  garments, 
and  turn  nnto  the  Lord  your  God :  for  he  is  gracious 
and  merciful,  slow  to  anger,  and  of  great  kindness,  and 
repenteth  him  of  the  evil. 

14.  Who  knoweth  if  he  will  return  and  repent,  and 
leave  a  blessing  behind  him,  even  a  meat-offering  and  a 
drink-offering  unto  the  Lord  your  God  ? 

This  is  the  only  appropriate  thing  to  be  done — the  only  source 
of  hope  for  deliverance — to  return  and  seek  the  Lord  in  penitence, 
for  he  is  gracious  and  delights  in  mercy.  "Who  knows  but  he  may 
turn  from  scourging  to  blessing,  and  leave  us  at  least  so  much  that 
we  can  bring  meat  and  drink  offerings  before  him  at  his  temple  ? 

This  moral  lesson  is  for  all  time,  and  for  all  sorts  of  affliction 

and  calamity  befalling  men  in  this  world'.  Everywhere  and  always, 
be  the  scourge  what  it  may,  it  behooves  men  to  turn  to  God,  con- 
fessing sin,  imploring  mercy,  daring  to  hope,  since  they  may,  that 
the  Lord  will  yet  turn  from  judgment  to  mercy. 

15.  Blow  the  trumpet  in  Zion,  sanctify  a  fast,  call  a 
solemn  assembly: 

16.  Gather  the  people,  sanctify  the  congregation, 
assemble  the  elders,  gather  the  children,  and  those  that 
suck  the  breasts:  let  the  bridegroom  go  forth  of  his 
chamber,  and  the  bride  out  of  her  closet. 

17.  Let  the  priests,  the  ministers  of  the  Lord,  weep 
between  the  porch  and  the  altar,  and  let  them  say,  Spare 
thy  people,  O  Lord,  and  give  hot  thine  heritage  to  re- 
proach, that  the  heathen  should  rule  over  them :  where- 
fore should  they  say  among  the  people,  Where  is  their 
God? 

This  summons  to  a  great  convocation  for  fasting  and  humiliation 
before  God,  differs  from  that  in  chap.  1 :  14,  in  being  more  specific 
as  to  the  classes  of  people  to  be  convene^,  and  also  in  giving  the  form 

of  prayer  appropriate  for  the  occasion. In  this  prayer,  the  phrase, 

"  that  the  heathen  should  rule  over  them  " — has  been  thought  by 
some  to  be  conclusive  proof  that  the  judgment  described  in  this 
chapter  (or,  as  others  think,  in  the  first  as  well)  is  not  locusts,  but 

armed  men — a  foreign  invasion. But  a  single  circumstance  like 

this  cannot  legitimately  outweigh  the  continued  tenor  of  the 
description  throughout  these  two  entire  chapters.  Besides,  the 
thing  chiefly  feared  from  the  heathen  is  reproach,  not  subjugation 
— the  reproach  of  having  a  God  unable  to  save,  and  bent  on  scourg- 
ing and  devastation.  This  is  the  thought  in  v.  17 — "Give  not 
thine  heritage  to  reproach ; "  and  also  in  v.  19  (the  Lord's  reply) 
— "I  will  no  more  make  you  a  reproach  among  the  heathen."    It 


90  JOEL.— CHAP.  II. 

is  also  seen  in  the  taunt,  supposed  to  be  in  their  month,  "  Where  is 
their  God?"  It  is  therefore  only  in  harmony  with  the  drift  of 
thought  to  interpret  the  words  rendered  "  rule  over  them,"  as  in 
the  margin,  "  use  a  byword  against  them."  While  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  in  most  cases  this  verb  means  to  rule,  yet  the  noun 
formed  from  it  has  the  sense  of  byword,  reproach,  in  many  passages, 

and  the  verb  is  used  in  this  sense  in  Job,  17:  6. Or,  it  might  bo 

said  that  giving  this  phrase  the  sense  of  ruling,  it  may  still  be 
thought  of  as  an  evil  to  be  feared  in  the  future,  not  as  one  suffered 
in  the  present.  If  the  land  were  to  remain  long  so  desolate  and 
breadless,  the  people  would  become  an  easy  prey  to  any  foreign 
enemy,  for  such  famine  at  once  cuts  the  sinews  of  war  and  leaves 
the  people  no  power  of  self-defence.  In  this  view,  therefore,  they 
might  fitly  pray  that  God  would  remove  this  scourge  of  locusts,  lest 
otherwise  the  whole  nation,  being  powerless,  should  fall  before  its 
foreign  enemies. 

18.  Then  will  the  Loud  be  jealous  for  his  land,  and 
pity  his  people. 

19.  Yea,  the  Lord  will  answer  and  say  unto  his 
people,  Behold,  I  will  send  yon  corn,  and  wine,  and  oil, 
and  ye  shall  be  satisfied  therewith :  and  I  will  no  more 
make  yon  a  reproach  among  the  heathen : 

"Then,"  i.  e.,  when  his  people  humble  themselves,  and  with  one 

heart  and  voice  implore  his  mercy. Expressly  the  Lord  is  said  to 

be  "jealous  for  his  land,"  for  that  land  which  had  long  borne  his 
name  before  the  nations,  and  with  which  his  honor  was  so  deeply 
involved.  The  Lord's  answer  promises  blessings  that  lie  over 
against  the  previous  curse.  He  will  gloriously  reverse  the  calami- 
ties with  corresponding  mercies. It  may  be  noted  that  all  along 

through  verses  19-20,  these  blessings  point  to  the  devastations  of 
locusts,  the  destruction  of  all  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  as  the  evils 
under  which  the  nation  had  suffered,  with  no  clearly  defined  allusion 
to  foreign  invasion.  This  fact  goes  far  to  disprove  any  distinct  ref- 
erence in  these  chapters  to  such  invasion. 

20.  But  I  will  remove  far  off  from  you  the  northern 
army,  and  will  drive  him  into  a  land  barren  and  deso- 
late, with  his  face  toward  the  east  sea,  and  his  hinder 
part  toward  the  utmost  sea ;  and  his  stink  shall  come  up, 
and  his  ill  savour  shall  come  up,  because  he  hath  done 
great  things. 

The  phras.e  "northern  army"  is  urged  by  some  as  decisive  proof 
of  reference  throughout  this  chapter  to  the  Assyrians  or  Chaldeans, 
and  not  to  locusts. 

Against  this  it  may  be  said:  (1.)  The  manner  and  the  conse- 
quences of  the  destruction  of  this  army,  as  given  in  this  verse,  show 


JOEL.— C11AI\  II.  91 

that  they  are  locusts,  not  men.  In  destroying  this  army,  the  Lord 
sends  a  strong  wind  and  drives  them  into  the  sea ;  then  they  are 
thrown  (this  is  implied)  by  the  -waves  upon  the  shore,  and  their 
stench  becomes  intolerable.  Not  so  would  he  destroy  an  army  of 
men. (2.)  It  is  still  a  contested  question,  with  authorities  con- 
flicting on  either  side,  whether  the  locust  armies  do  not  sometimes 
enter  Palestine  from  the  north  or  northeast,  so  that  this  army  might 
be  called  "northern"  for  this  reason. Or,  (3.)  It  may  be  sug- 
gested whether,  inasmuch  as  all  the  great  powers,  hostile  to  Israel 
in  the  latter  period  of  their  history,  lay  on  the  north,  viz.,  Syria 
And  Assyria,  this  term  "northern"  might  not  be  a  synonym  for 
powerful,  so  that  an  army  so  terrible  as  this  locust  horde  might  be 
called  northern  for  this  reason. 

In  the  last  clause,  "because  he  hath  done  great  things,"  some 
critics  suppose  they  find  voluntary  and  morally  responsible  agency, 
and  hence  they  infer  that  it  can  apply  only  to  a  human  foe.  But 
the  indications  of  moral  agency  in  this  phrase  are  by  no  means  de- 
cisive. 

21.  Fear  not,  O  land ;  be  glad  and  rejoice :  for  the 
Lord  will  do  great  things. 

22.  Be  not  afraid,  ye  beasts  of  the  field:  for  the 
pastures  of  the  wilderness  do  spring,  for  the  tree  beareth 
her  fruit,  the  fig-tree  and  the  vine  do  yield  their  strength. 

By  a  bold  personification  the  "land"  and  the  "beasts "  are  ex- 
horted not  to  fear  any  more,  for  God  will  remove  his  fearful  scourge. 

"The  Lord  will  do  great  things,"  is  here  finely  contrasted  with 

the  locusts  "  doing  great  things,"  as  in  v.  20.  However  great  their 
devastations,  the  Lord  can  make  his  ensuing  blessings  far  greater. 
He  delights  to  set  his  mercies  over  against  the  mischiefs  and  mis- 
eries that  sin  brings  on  men,  and  to  show  in  this  way  how  exceed- 
ingly he  can  surpass  them  in  the  greatness  and  glory  of  his  grace. 

23.  Be  glad  then,  ye  children  of  Zion,  and  rejoice  in 
the  Loed  yonr  God:  for  he  hath  given  yon  the  former 
rain  moderately,  and  he  will  canse  to  come  down  for  you 
the  rain,  the  former  rain,  and  the  latter  rain  in  the  first 
month. 

In  the  interpretation  of  this  verse,  the  main  question,  one  really 
of  great  interest,  is  this:  Whether  the  passage  is  a  promise  of  rain 
only,  or  whether  it  comprises  a  far  richer  promise  and  propliecy  of 

spiritual  olessings? This  question  turns   mainly  on  the   sense 

given  to  the  original  words  rendered  in  our  English  text,  "  the  for- 
mer rain  moderately,"  but  in  the  margin,  "  a  teacher  of  righteous- 
ness." If  the  latter  be  the  true  sense,  the  passage  will  be  found  for 
more  rich  in  promised  blessings  than  has  been  commonly  supposed. 
The  point  is  worthy  of  careful  attention,  and  no  apology  need  be 


92  Joel.— chap.  ii. 

made  for  a  thorough,  though  it  be  a  somewhat  protracted  examina- 
tion. 

The  evidence  in  favor  of  translating  "  the  teacher  of  righteous- 
ness," is  in  my  view  fully  conclusive.      It  may  be  arranged  thus : 

(1.)  This  construction  becomes  antecedently  probable  in  view  of 
the  common  prophetic  usage  of  engrafting  Messianic  prophecies 
upon  analogous  events  of  then  current  history.  Some  great  present 
mercy  suggests  the  far  greater  mercies  of  gospel  times.  This  usage 
is  so  common  that  it  may  be  considered  one  of  the  laws  of  Messi- 
anic prophecy.  Thus  in  the  passage  Isa.  10 :  24-34,  with  chap.  11 
and  12,  the  deliverance  wrought  for  Israel  by  the  destruction  of  the 
Assyrian  army,  suggested  the  greater  deliverance  wrought  for  Zion 
by  her  King  Messiah.  In  Zech.  9 :  8-10,  the  protection  afforded 
against  Alexander  the  Great  suggested  the  richer  protection  coming 
from  the  meek  and  peaceful  King,  whose  empire  shall  be  wider  as 
well  as  more  benign  than  ever  was  Alexander's. There  is  there- 
fore not  only  no  objection  to  the  gospel  idea  in  this  connection,  but 
there  is  a  measure  of  antecedent  probability  in  its  favor,  inasmuch 
as  the  circumstances  are  of  that  very  sort  in  which  prophecies  of 
the  Messiah  so  often  occur. 1  adduce  this  point,  however,  espe- 
cially to  rebut  the  only  objection  made  against  the  Messianic  inter- 
pretation, viz. :  that  it  is  out  of  place  here  in  a  strain  of  remark 
about  rain  and  fertility  after  famine.  Henderson,  Eosemueller,  Gc- 
senius,  and  others,  seem  to  think  this  objection  conclusive  against 
the  reference  of  these  words  to  gospel  times. The  facts  of  pro- 
phetic usage  bear  in  precisely  the  opposite  direction,  and  show  that 
Messianic  reference  is  here  precisely  in  place,  opportune,  natural, 
probable. 

(2.)  The  second  argument  is  of  the  same  sort  with  the  foregoing, 
heightening  the  antecedent  probability  of  a  reference  to  gospel 
blessings.  It  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  prophet  gives  special  notice 
that  he  has  great  blessings  to  promise,  by  calling  on  "  the  children 
of  Zion  to  be  glad  and  rejoice  in  the  Lord  their  God."  This  notice 
very  commonly  and  very  naturally  precedes  a  prophecy  of  gospel 
blessings,  as  a  preintimation  that  they  are  to  be  brought  forward. 
Thus  Zech.  9:  9,  "Rejoice  greatly,  O  daughter  of  Zion;  shout,  O 
daughter  of  Jerusalem ;  behold,  thy  King  cometh  unto  thee,"  &c. 
And  Zech.  2:  10,  "Sing  and  rejoice,  O  daughter  of  Zion,  for  lo,  I 
come,  and  I  will  dwell  in  the  midst  of  thee,  saith  the  Lord."  Or, 
Isa.  49:  13,  "Sing,  O  heavens,  and  be  joyful,  O  earth,  and  break 
forth  into  singing,  O  mountains,  for  the  Lord  hath  comforted  his 
people,"  &c. This  list  might  be  extended  almost  indefinitely,  some- 
times indeed  with  only  the  special  call  of  attention,  "  Behold!" 
as  in  Isa.  52 :  13,  and  Jer.  23  :  5.  This  may  be  set  down,  there- 
fore, as  one  of  the  laws  of  the  Messianic  passages,  all  the  more 
strong  in  proof  of  Messianic  reference  here,  because  the  prophet 
had  already  announced  the  coming  fulness  of  bread  instead  of 
emptiness,  plenty  in  place  of  famine ;  so  that  there  was  really  no 
occasion  to  call  for  special  joy  in  the  prospect  of  mere  rain.    In 


JOEL.— CHAP.   II.  93 

fact,  rain  was  already  presupposed  in  the  verse  preceding — "the 
pastures  of  the  wilderness  do  spring ;  the  fig-tree  and  the  vine  yield 

their  strength." Hence  there  are  the  best  of  reasons  to  look  for 

a  promise  of  gospel  blessings  here.  Let  us  now  examine  the  words 
themselves : 

(3.)  The  specially  essential  word,  rendered  "  the  former  rain." 
is  in  Hebrew,  moreh,*  a  participle  (Hiphil)  from  the  verb  t  which 
means,  first,  to  throw  or  cast ;  then  to  throw  javelins,  spears,  ar- 
rows ;  to  throw  drops  of  water,  i.  e.,  to  rain  ;  and  to  throw  out  the 
hand  in  pointing  out  objects  to  another,  and  hence,  to  teach.  Thus, 
from  this  root  we  in  fact  get  words  both  for  rain  and  for  teacher. 
Indeed,  the  participle  in  one  conjugation  (Kal),  is  used  to  a  limited 
extent  for  rain,  e.  g.,  Dent.  11 :  14  and  Jer.  5 :  24,  &c. ;  while  in  an- 
other conjugation  (Hiphil) — the  one  used  here — it  denotes  teacher. 

Of  course  this-is  a  question'  of  usage.     Moreh,  in  precisely  this 

form,  occurs  in  the  Hebrew  Bible,  outside  of  the  passage  before  us, 
seven  times,  and  in  its  plural  three  times — and  in  each  case  in  the 
sense  of  teacher  only.  The  passages  are  2  Kings  17 :  28,  "  he  be- 
came their  teacher;"  2  Chron.  15  :  3,  "  without  a  teacher,  a  priest;" 
Job  30  :  22 — said  of  God — "  who  is  a  teacher  like  him?"  Trov.  6  : 
13,  "he  is  a  teacher  with  his  fingers" — (with  an  eye  to  the  ety- 
mology) ;  Isa.  9  :  14,  "  the  prophet,  teacher  of  lies,"  &c;  Hab.  2 :  18, 

11  teacher  of  lies." Ps.  84 :  7  may  be  considered  doubtful.     Our 

English  Bible  has  it—"  The  rain  also  filleth  the  pools ;"  but  Dr. 
Alexander,  better,  thus:  "The  teacher  is  clothed  with  blessings:" 
—one  of  the  good  things  about  the  house  of  God— this  being  the 

subject-matter  of  the  psalm. Besides  these,  are  three  instances 

of  the  plural  in  the  same  sense  of  teacher;  viz.,  Prov.  5: 13,  and 

Isa.  30 :  20  twice. Hence  the  usage  in  the  sense  of  teacher  is 

substantially  universal,  there  being  no. clear  case  of  the  use  of  this 
word  in  this  form  for  rain,  outside  of  this  passage  in  Joel.    The  case 

Ps.  84:  7  is  the  only  one  claimed. Yet  further,  the  usage  of  the 

finite  verb  (Hiphil  conjugation),  in  the  sense  of  teach,  is  most 
abundant.  Taylor's  Concordance  gives  forty-three  cases,  but  not 
one  in  the  sense  to  rain.  Hence,  it  would  seem  that  the  facts  on 
the  point  of  usage  must  be  conclusive,  in  proof  that  the  original 
word  moreh  means  here  teacher. 

(4.)  The  argument  is  heightened  by  the  use  of  the  article—  the 
teacher— the  celebrated,  distinguished  teacher.  The  article  appears 
in  none  of  the  other  ten  cases  where  this  word  means  teacher.  This 
then  must  be  the  teacher,  in  the  highest,  noblest  sense.  But  if  the 
word  is  held  to  mean  rain,  no  reason  can  be  given  for  the  use  of 
the  article. 

(5.)  By  a  sort  of  attraction,  the  word  in  the  last  clause  oi  the 
verse,  rendered  "former  rain,"  takes  this  form  moreh  instead  of  the 
usual  one  yoreh,J  but  is  without  the  article.  In  other  respects  the 
form  is  the  same  as  before,  where  I  render  it  "  teacher."     If  this 

*  nhlaii  t  ""3J  X  "T"1 


94  JOEL.— CHAP.   II. 

were  a  case  of  "  renewed  mention,"  as  grammarians  call  it,  i.  e.,  if  it 
were  used  in  the  same  sense  here  as  before,  and  referred  to  that  use, 
it  should  have  the  article.  If  that  was  former  rain,  this  should  he 
the  former  rain,  before  spoken  of.  But  this  is  not  the  rain  ;  there- 
fore that  was  not  rain  at  all. 

(6.)  The  word  I  render  "righteousness"  (in  our  English  Bible, 
"moderately")  demands  the  Messianic  sense.  This  word  *  is 
always  used  in  the  moral  sense — never  in  the  physical.  It  occurs 
scores  of  times  in  the  Scriptures ;  never  in  the  sense  of  "  moderately," 
as  of  rain  in  due  measure,  but  always  in  the  moral  sense  of  morally 
right  doctrine,  and  a  morally  right  life. 

(7.)  Another  argument  comes  from  the  tenses  of  the  two  verbs 
in  this  passage,  rendered  "hath  given,"  and  "will  cause  to  come 
down."  This  argument  perhaps  will  not  be  very  clear  to  a  merely 
English  reader,  yet  it  has  essential  weight. The  first  verb  is  in- 
deed in  the  preter  tense — a  fact  which  may  seem  to  preclude  its 
being  a  prophecy  of  distant  future  blessings.  But  almost  all  the 
prophecies  are  in  this  very  tense — so  that  this  is  often  called  "  the 

prophetic  prefer."- The  tense  of  the  second  verb  is  quite  peculiar 

— known  by  Hebrew  grammarians  as  the  future  with  vav  conver- 
sive.  It  indicates  a  connection  with  the  preceding  verb,  which 
means  more  than  "  and"  i.  e.,  more  than  simply  that  one  event 
comes  after  the  other.  The  connection  may  be  expressed  thus — 
"And  then  or  so,  will  he  bring  down  rain,"  denoting  what  results 
as  a  consequence,  or  inference,  from  what  has  been  just  said.  In 
the  present  case  the  relation  of  ideas  involved  in  the  tense  of  the 
second  verb  may  be  twofold  :  («.)  That  having  promised  the  Teacher 
of  righteousness  whose  very  name  is  associated  with  ram,  he  will 
much  more  give  literal  rain  in  its  time ;  and  (b.)  That  having  thus 
made  provision  for  teaching  the  people  righteousness,  the  reason  for 
withholding  rain  for  discipline  or  in  judgment,  will  cease,  and  the 
Lord  will  now  give  rain  without  stint,  since  he  safely  can,  without 
moral  harm.     The  latter  I  incline  to  make  specially  prominent. 

(8.)  If,  with  our  English  Bible,  we  render  "  the  former  rain 
moderately,"  then  the  last  part  of  the  verse  is  tame  repetition,  and 
makes  no  progress  in  the  thought :  thus—"  He  gives  you  the  former 
rain  moderately,  and  he  causes  to  come  down  the  rain,  the  former 
and  the  latter  rain."  It  is  scarcely  supposable  that  this  can  be  the 
true  rendering. This  objection  cannot  be  relieved  by  the  differ- 
ence in  tense,  presented  in  our  common  version — "  he  hath  given  ;" 
and  "he  will  cause  to  come  down;"  for  the  Hebrew  tenses  do  not 
sustain  this  distinction. 

(9.)  Giving  this  clause  the  sense — "  the  Teacher  of  righteousness  " 
with  reference  to  spiritual  blessings,  and  somewhat  to  gospel  times, 
there  is  a  striking  antithesis  between  this  verse  and  v.  28 ;  v. 
23  promises  "the  teacher  of  righteousness,  in  the  first  place."  (Our 
translators  found  nothing  for  their  word   "month.")     The  Hebrew 


JOEL.— chap.  n.  95 

means — "in  the  first  place,"  the  first  instalment  of  blessings.  Then 
v.  28  promises  that  "  afterwards  "  another  instalment  shall  be  given. 
As  the  latter  is  not  rain,  so  neither  is  the  former.     As  the  latter  is 

the  Spirit,  so  is  the  former. 1  suggest  yet  another  antithesis :  v. 

23,  addressing  specially  "the  children  of  Zion,"  says — "He gives 
to  you  the  Teacher  of  righteousness ;"  v.  28,  over  against  this,  has 
it — "I  will  pour  out  my  Spirit  on  all  fleshy  In  verse  23,  the  pro- 
noun you  is  fully  expressed,  and  for  this  reason,  by  Hebrew  law,  is 
slightly  emphatic,  or  at  least  distinctly  prominent.  Hence  the  evi- 
dence of  designed  antithesis  is  the  stronger. 

(10.)  This  antithesis  becomes  yet  somewhat  more  direct,  if  by 
"the  Teacher  of  righteousness  "  we  understand  the  Holy  Spirit — 
the  same  blessing  promised  in  v.  28,  given  first  to  the  children  of 

Zion,  and  "  afterwards  poured  out  on  all  flesh.1' "  All  flesh,"  by 

current  usage  as  well  as  by  the  legitimate  sense  of  the  words,  should 
mean  the  whole  human  family,  and  in  this  antithesis,  the  Gentile 
world.     (See  Gen.  6:12;  Ps.  05  :  2  and  145  :  21 ;  Isa.  40  :  5,  6,  &c.) 

True,  the  specifications  that  immediately  follow  lead  the  mind 

rather  to  the  idea  of  all  classes  of  society — "sons  and  daughters," 
"old  men  and  young,"  "servants  and  handmaids" — this  wide 
range  of  classes  being  perhaps  in  antithesis  with  the  former  limita- 
tions to  the  priestly  and  prophetic  orders,  to  which  latter  the  prom 
ise  (v.  23),  may  have  special  reference.  That  is,  the  promise  of 
"  the  Teacher  of  righteousness,"  referring  primarily  to  the  Holy 
Spirit,  would  contemplate  the  Spirit  as  working  upon  the  people 
through  his  priests  and  prophets,  and  thus  turning  them  to  right- 
eousness.  The  next  instalment  of  these  blessings  would  greatly 

increase  the  number  of  his  immediate  agents.  The  New  Testament 
seems  to  assume  that,  ordinarily,  the  Spirit  reaches  the  ungodly 
through  the  media  of  Christians,  working  and  praying  "  in  the 
Spirit,"  while  he  comes  down  upon  Christians  directly,  both  to 
anoint  them  for  their  Christian  labor  for  the  ungodly,  and  to  secure 
their  own  sanctification.  This  second  instalment  (v.  28)  therefore 
looks  toward  the  unlimited  extension  of  the  Spirit's  agencies  by 
multiplying  the  number  and  enlarging  the  circle  of  his  immediate 

agents. The  arguments  then   against  restricting  the  effusion  of 

the  Spirit,  promised  vs.  28,  29,  to  the  Hebrew  line,  and  for  its  un- 
limited extension,  stand  briefly  thus :  {a.)  "All  flesh"  legitimately 
means  all  mankind.  (l>.)  The  specifications  only  show  that  the  circle 
of  special  agents  through  whom  the  Spirit  works  will  be  vastly  en- 
larged—indeed, will  comprise  all  classes  of  society — and  thus  will 
provide  the  instrumentalities  for  diffusing  the  Spirit's  influence  over 
all  the  world,  (c.)  Peter  applies  "  all  flesh  "  in  this  large,  unlimited 
sense  (Acts  2  :  21,  39) :  "  Whosoever  shall  call  on  the  name  of  the 
Lord  shall  be  saved,"  (which  is  his  version  of  Joel  2 :  32),  and — "  For 
the  promise  is  unto  you  and  to  your  children,  and  to  all  that  arc  afar 
off-]  even  as  many  as  the  Lord  our  God  shall  call."  This  argument 
from  Peter's  exposition  of  Joel  is  the  stronger,  because  it  is  pre- 
eminently the  Spirit's  exposition,  and  not  Peter's — the  latter  not 


96  JOEL.— CHAP.  II. 

Laving  yet  really  understood  %he  sense  of  these  words.  Acts  10 
shows  both  wJien  and  how  his  mind  was  opened  to  the  grand  idea 
that  "  of  a  truth  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons ;  "  but  gives  gospel 
blessings  to  Gentile  as  to  Jew. 

(11.)  That  Iforeh,  the  Teacher,  refers  to  the  Holy  Spirit  rather 
than  specially  to  the  Messiah,  is  certainly  favored  by  the  strong  anal- 
ogy, everywhere  apparent  throughout  the  Old  Testament,  between 
the  Spirit  and  the  gift  of  rain — between  the  agencies  of  the 
Spirit,  and  reviving,  cleansing  water.  This  analogy  does  not  hold 
between  rain  and  the  Messiah.  That  rain  is  a  symbol  of  the  Spirit, 
probably  both  in  manner  of  coming  and  in  consequent  effects,  is 
apparent  even  here  in  v.  28  :  "  I  will  your  out  my  Spirit."  The 
very  form  of  expression  shows  that  this  analogy  is  before  the  proph- 
et's mind.  So  also  Isa.  44 :  3,  "I  will  pour  water  upon  him  that 
is  thirsty,  and  floods  upon  the  dry  ground :  I  will  pour  my  Spirit 
upon  thy  seed,  and  my  blessing  upon  their  offspring."  Or  Ezek. 
3G  :  25,  "Then  will  I  sprinkle  clean  water  upon  you,  and  ye  shall 
be  clean  ....  from  your  filthiness  :" — "I  will  put  my  Spirit  within 
you  and  cause  you  to  walk  in  my  statutes."  The  parallelisms  here 
furnish  all  the  evidence  needed  to  show  that  in  these  passages  water 

is  thought  of  only  as  a  figure  for  the  Spirit. Many  other  passages 

might  be  cited  from  the  Old  Testament  in  which  the  close  analogy 
between  the  Spirit  and  water  is  boldly  prominent.  Ezekiel,  in  his 
last  recorded  vision,  saw  living  waters  flow  from  under  the  sanctuary 
and  soon  become  a  mighty  river — manifestly  looking  onward  to 
that  blessed  age  when  the  fulness  of  the  Spirit  shall  be  shed  forth  to 
make  pure  and  effective  all  the  forms  of  social  and  moral  influences 
in  human  society.  Let  us  note  also  that  this  passage  (Ezek.  47)  is 
the  more  in  point  here  because  it  was  manifestly  suggested  by  the 
passage  Joel  3:18,  and  is  strictly  an  expansion  of  Joel's  thought : 
— "All  the  rivers  of  Judah  shall  flow  with  water,  and  a  fountain 
shall  come  forth  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  shall  water  the  vallev 
of  Shittim." 

(12.)  It  is  plausibly  objected  to  the  rendering,  "  Teacher  of 
righteousness,"  that,  admitting  it,  the  thought  is  dropped  too  soon, 
and  that  the  current  of  remark  (vs.  24-27)  seems  to  ignore  it,  as  it 
could  not  if  the  gospel  idea  were  really  there  in  the  words  which  I 
render  "The  Teucher  of  righteousness;"  in  other  words,  that 
room  enough  is  not  allowed  for  a  thought  so  great  and  so  import- 
ant as  this. A  closer  examination  will  obviate  this  objection. 

First,  the  greatest  joy  is  invoked  in  view  of  the  gift  of  the  Teacher 
of  righteousness.  Then  this  teacher  is  to  be  a  present  as  well  as  a 
future  blessing,  inasmuch  as  he  will  manifest  his  power  through  his 
anointed  servants — the  priests  and  the  prophets  of  the  old  dispen- 
sation. See  Zech.  4  throughout,  and  especially  vs.  11-14.  Hence 
the  prosperity  of  the  people  will  hopefully  become  both  great  and 
permanent,  since,  when  they  are  radically  turned  to  righteousness, 
nothing  will  restrain  the  rich  gifts  of  God's  providence. More- 
over, these  views  and  these  only  give  their  full  force  to  verses  26, 


JOEL.— CHAr.  II.  07 

2Y — "  Yc  shall  eat  in  plenty  and  be  satisfied,  and  praise  the  name 
of  the  Lord  your  God  who  hath  dealt  wondrously  with  you;  and 
my  people  shall  never  be  ashamed;  and  ye  shall  know  that  I  am 
in  the  midst  of  Israel,  and  that  I  am  the  Lord  your  God  and  none 

else ;  and  my  people  shall  never  be  ashamed." That  they  should 

praise  God  who  had  "  wrought  wondrously  "  in  scourging  them  for 
their  sins,  and  in  thus  drawing  them  back  to  humiliation,  repent- 
ance, and  a  godly  life ;  that  they  should  know  that  the  Lord  is  their 
God  and  is  verily  in  the  midst  of  them — know  it  by  his  discipline 
and  by  its  "  peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness  ;  "  that  they  should 
never  be  put  to  shame  before  their  foes,  but  always  live  so  that  the 
Lord  should  be  their  trust  and  salvation;  all  these  things  imply 
more  than  a  present  supply  of  rain.'  Their  meaning  cannot  be  ex- 
hausted short  of  a  living  fountain  of  spiritual  truth  and  life,  flow- 
ing from  the  great  Teacher  of  righteousness  through  his  inspired 
prophets. 

(13.)  Still  another  objection  will  strike  many  minds  against  tho 
assumed  antithesis  between  the  clauses  "Teacher  of  righteous- 
ness," v.  23,  and  "I. will  pour  out  my  Spirit,"  v.  23,  viz.,  Why  are 
the  names  and  statements  so  diverse  if  they  mean  the  same  thing  ? 
If  v.  23  means  the  Holy  Spirit,  why  did  not  the  language  say  so? 

I  reply  (a.)  As  I  have  already  hinted,  there  may  be  some  re- 
gard to  these  facts,  viz.,  that  rain  is  before  the  mind;  that  the  ideas 
of  rain  and  of  teacher  are  associated  in  the  same  Hebrew  verb ;  and 
yet  more,  that  there  is  a  close  and  constant  analogy  in  the  Hebrew 
mind  between  water  and  rain  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Holy  Spirit 
on  the  other. (5.)  But  probably  more  weight  still  in  determin- 
ing the  form  of  the  expression  "  Teacher  of  righteousness,"  is  due 
to  the  nature  of  the  case  in  hand,  the  special  sort  of  blessing 
needed  by  the  people,  as  seen  in  the  light  of  events  then  present. 
Great  sin  had  brought  upon  them  a  great  scourge  of  locusts,  drought 
and  famine.  Eepentance  and  divine  mercy  had  driven  off  the  lo- 
custs and  brought  them  rain  and  bread,  but  yet  the  people  were 
not  half  saved  without  a  permanent  Teacher  of  righteousness.  A 
divine  teacher,  himself  teaching  their  teachers,  and  -holding  the 
people  permanently  to  righteousness,  was  precisely  the  greatest 
blessing  possible  in  their  case ;  was  the  very  blessing  they  needed ; 

was  the  only  thing  requisite  to  fill  their  cup  full. These  now  are 

not  only  reasons  why  God  should  give  the  people  his  Spirit,  but 
were  also  reasons  why  He  should  designate  him  thus  :  "  The  Teacher 
of  righteousness."  This  name  indicated  the  work  most  essential 
then,  in  the  light  of  the  recent  calamities  and  their  causes.  Hence 
the  name.  It  is  shaped  by  the  surroundings,  by  the  facts  then  spe- 
cially present  to  the  mind.     Why  should  it  not  be  ? 

Finally,  since  this  special  interpretation  which  refers  the  phrase 
"  Teacher  of  righteousness  "  rather  to  the  Spirit  than  to  the  Son,  in 
mainly  if  not  wholly  new,  I  choose  to  present  it  as  a  suggestion. 
I  do  not  press  it  as  a  point  of  vital  importance.  That  the  passage 
promises  spiritual  and  not  temporal  blessings,  the  teaching  of  right- 
5 


98  JOEL.— CHAP.  II. 

eousness  and  not  merely  the  gift  of  rain,  I  think  is  entirely  clear 

and  withal  a  point  of  practical  value. -Theologically  there  can 

be  no  prejudice  against  it,  for  while  teaching  was  one  office  of  the 
Messiah,  it  was  not  the  only  or  the  chief  one,  hut  it  is  the  chief  and 
characteristic  function  of  the  Spirit.  Jesus  himself  said  of  the 
Spirit,  "  He  shall  teach  you  all  things ;  "  and  yet  more,  if  possible, 
to  the  point  in  hand,  "When  he  is  come,  he  will  reprove  the* world 
of  sin  and  of  righteousness" 

24.  And  the  floors  shall  be  full  of  wheat,  and  the 
fats  shall  overflow  with  wine  and  oil. 

25.  And  I  will  restore  to  you  the  years  that  the  lo- 
cust hath  eaten,  the  canker-worm,  and  the  caterpillar, 
and  the  palmer-worm,  my  great  army  which  I  sent  among 
you. 

In  the  clause  "  The  years  that  the  locust  hath  eaten,"  the  plu- 
ral "years  "  indicates  that  this  scourge  was  not  transient  nor  lim- 
ited even  to  one  year,  but  continued  through  several,  a  most  terrific 
visitation  of  divine  judgment.  But  the  Lord  would  make  good  to 
his  people  all  the  losses  and  sufferings  of  those  long-remembered 
years.  He  seems  to  refer  primarily  to  restoration  in  kind,  i.  e.,  in 
corn,  and  wine,  and  oil ;  but  if  he  would  restore  those  things  of  less 
value,  how  much  more  will  he  make  up  their  losses  in  the  earthly 
line  by  superabounding  mercies  in  the  spiritual  line !  This  is  the 
wise  and  ever  precious  way  of  the  Lord  to  restore  to  his  penitent 
people  earthly  good  in  just  measure,  but  heavenly,  in  all  the  plen- 
itude of  his  grace. 

26.  And  ye  shall  eat  in  plenty,  and  he  satisfied,  and 
praise  the  name  of  the  Lord  your  God,  that  hath  dealt 
wonclrously  with  you :  and  my  people  shall  never  be 
ashamed. 

27.  And  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  in  the  midst  of 
Israel,  and  that  I  am  the  Loed  your  God,  and  none  else : 
and  my  people  shall  never  be  ashamed. 

A  thanksgiving  festival  over  these  mercies  would  be  eminently 
fitting,  especially  the  thanksgiving  and  the  praise. This  repeti- 
tion is  designed  to  give  special  force  to  two  ideas :  (1)  that  God's 
people  should  know  by  their  precious  experience  that  their  own 
God  is  in  the  midst  of  them,  a  Power  and  a  Refuge,  and  an  only 
God,  there  being  no  other;  and  (2)  that  his  people,  confiding  in  his 
love  and  help,  shall  never  be  put  to  shame.  This  confidence  in 
their  God  can  never  prove  abortive.  It  is  always  safe  to  trust  in 
his  name.     So  trusting,  his  people  never  have  been  confounded  and 

never  can  be. Knowing  by  personal  experience  that  God  is  in 

the  midst  of  us  through  scenes  of  sore  affliction,  until  deliverance 
and  restoring  mercy  appear,  implies  that  we  apprehend  the  great 


JOEL.— CHAP.  II.  99 

idea  of  God's  use  of  earthly  discipline,  viz.,  to  make  ail  things  work 
together  for  good  to  those  who  love  him.  When  Israel  came  out 
from  under  the  scourge  of  locusts  and  famine,  penitent  and  hum- 
bled, drawn  thereby  the  nearer  to  God,  and  made  fully  aware  that 
his  hand  had  been  afflicting  them  in  mercy  for  their  spiritual  good, 
they  might  well  be  said  to  know  that  God  had  been  in  the  midst 
of  them  all  the  time  as  their  own  Lord  God. 

28.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  afterward,  that  I  will 
pour  out  my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh ;  and  your  sons  and 
your  daughters  shall  prophesy,  your  old  men  shall  dream 
dreams,  your  young  men  shall  see  visions : 

29.  And  also  upon  the  servants  and  upon  the  hand- 
maids in  those  days  will  I  pour  out  my  Spirit. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  passage  predicts  the  effusion  of 
the  Spirit  in  the  gospel  sense,  and  particularly,  though  not  exclu- 
sively, in  gospel  times.  That  the  specifications  should  point  to  the 
extraordinary  rather  than  the  ordinary  operations  of  the-  Spirit, 
*.  e.,  to  visions,  dreams,  and  prophetic  functions,  rather  than  to  his 
more  common,  now  more  useful  but  less  palpable  ministries  of 
convicting,  converting,  and  sanctifying  grace — has  the  same  reason 
in  prophecy  that  it  had  in  the  fact  itself  on  the  day  of  Pentecost, 
viz.,  the  importance  of  having  the  Spirit's  earlier  manifestations 
made  so  tangible  as  to  convince  gainsayers  and  demonstrate  his 

presence  and  power. "All  flesh"  must  mean  the  whole  race, 

without  distinction  of  Jew  or  Gentile.  This  usage  is  fully  estab- 
lished. In  addition  to  the  passages  referred  to  in  notes  on  v.  28, 
see  Gen.  9 :  IT ;  Num.  16:  22 ;  Isaiah  66  :  23 ;  Luke  8:6;  and  John 
17  :  2.  The  specifications  given  here,  "your  sons  and  your  daugh- 
ters," "  your  old  men  and  your  young  men,"  "  the  servants  and 
the  handmaids,"  go  to  show  that  there  shall  also  be  no  distinction 
of  sex  or  age,  of  rank  or  station.  As  the  gospel  was  to  be  preached 
to  the  poor,  so  the  Spirit  should  come  down  upon  servants  and 
handmaids,  as  well  as  upon  their  employers,  however  rich  and 
noble.  It  may  also  be  intended  that  this  spiritual  illumination 
shall  not  be  restricted  to  the  orders  of  priests  and  prophets,  but 

diffused  through  all  grades  and  classes. The  question  Whenf 

must  not  be  overlooked.  The  only  designation  of  time  given  here, 
"afterwards,"  in  future  time,  was  purposely  left -thus  indefinite. 
The  period  before  Christ  and  subsequent  to  Joel,  is  not  necessarily 
excluded ;  the  early  years  of  the  Christian  age  are  certainly  in- 
cluded, as  Peter  shows  (Acts  2  :  16-21)  in  his  citation  of  this  pas- 
sage as  then  having  its  fulfilment ;  nor  can  the  yet  future  periods 
of  the  gospel  age  be  shut  out.  Indeed,  numerous  prophecies  show 
that  in  the  times  yet  future  there  shall  be  far  richer  manifestations 
of  the  Spirit's  power  than  the  world  has  yet  seen.  Nothing  in 
prophecy,  nothing  in  Peter's  reference  to  Joel  on  the  day  of  Pente- 
cost, forbids  this  belief. The  connection  of  thought  in  which  this 


100  JOEL.— CHAR  II. 

prophecy  stands  has  been  already  noticed.  The  great  deliverance 
wrought  for  the  covenant  people  on  their  repentance,  by  driving 
away  the  fearful  locust  army  and  by  giving  instead  copious  rains 
and  superabundant  harvests,  suggested  the  far  richer  mercies  of  the 
divine  Spirit.  The  underlying  cause  of  both  is  the  same — God's 
loving-kindness  and  great  mercy.  It  is  only  in  accordance  with 
well-known  laws  of  mind  that  one  great  blessing  should  suggest 

another  yet  greater. Finally,  let  us  notice  the  favor  shown  by 

the  Lord  to  the  saints  of  that  early  age,  in  setting  before  them  such 
glimpses  of  the  better  gospel  days  yet  to  come,  and  particularly 
such  revelations  of  the  future  effusions  of  the  Spirit.  It  must  have 
ministered  greatly  to  their  faith  in  God  and  to  their  hope  and  joy 
in  his  kingdom  among  men. 

30.  And  I  will  show  wonders  in  the  heavens  and  in 
the  earth,  blood,  and  fire,  and  pillars  of  smoke. 

31.  The  sim  shall  be  turned  into  darkness,  and  the 
moon  into  blood,  before  the  great  and  the  terrible  day 
of  the  Lord  come. 

Striking  portents  and  prodigies  shall  precede  the  coming  of 
"  the  great  and  terrible  day  of  "the  Lord."  The  two  main  ques- 
tions here  are  (1)  "Whether  this  language  respecting  the  sun  and 
moon  shall  be  taken  in  a  strictly  literal  or  a  figurative  sense  ?  and 
(2)  Whether  the  reference  is  to  some  one  great  day  only,  and  if  so 
to  what  ?  or  whether  the  passage  teaches  or  implies  a  general  truth, 
viz.,  that  portents  shall  appear  prior  to  all  the  really  great  and  sig- 
nal manifestations  of  the  Lord's  judgments  on  the  wicked  ? As 

to  the  first  question,  what  is  said  of  the  sun  and  moon  must  be  un- 
derstood of  their  appearance,  and  not  of  their  reality.  On  the 
question  whether  these  extraordinary  things  pertain  to  the  realm 
of  nature  or  the  realm  of  society,  I  incline  to  decide  for  the 
former,  and  so  far  forth  to  give  them  a  literal  construction.  That 
is,  I  do  not  favor  the  mode  of  interpretation  which  makes  the  sun 
and  moon  represent  the  greater  and  lesser  kingdoms  or  princes  of 
the  world.  The  plagues  on  Egypt,  prior  to  the  great  deliverance 
wrought  for  God's  people,  seem  to  have  been  before  the  prophet's 
mind  as  the  case  to  furnish  his  illustrative  terms.  And  further, 
there  seems  to  be  a  general  expectation  in  the  minds  of  men,  in  all 
ages,  that  God  will  give  preintimations  in  the  natural  world  of  his 
special  comings  for  judgment.  To  this  point  pagan  writings  fur- 
nish ample  proof. As  to  the  question  whether  this  prophecy 

looks  to  one  particular  day  alone,  or  rather  announces  a  general 
doctrine,  I  suggest  that  the  phraseology  "  the  great  and  the  terrible 
day"  leads  the  mind  specially  to  some  one  day,  and  yet  the  fact 
that  this  day  shall  be  heralded  by  portents  in  nature  may  be  only 

one  striking  case  under  a  general  law. If  I  am  to  look  for  the 

definite  day,  I  cannot  place  it  earlier  than  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem by  the  Eomans,  as  to  which  day  the  evidence  of  portents 


JOEL.— CHAT.  III.  101 

and  prodigies  seems  very  strong.  Beyond  that  I  fix  on  no  definite 
day.  The  future  may  reveal  it.  It  may  have  its  final  and  most 
startling  fulfilment  shortly  prior  to  the  last  great  judgment  day. 

32.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  whosoever  shall 
call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  delivered :  for  in 
Mount  Zion  and  in  Jerusalem  shall  be  deliverance,  as 
the  Lord  hath  said,  and  in  the  remnant  whom  the  Lord 
shall  call. 

In  these  times  of  terrible  judgment  on  the  incorrigibly  guilty, 
some  shall  escape  altogether.  This  verse  informs  us  very  definitely 
who  they  are,  viz.,  those  who  "  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord,"  and 
those  whom  "the  Lord  shall  call."  Moreover,  the  deliverance  shall 
be  "in  Mount  Zion  and  in  Jerusalem,"  *.  <?.,  for  their  inhabitants,  for 

those  who  are  the  Lord's  true  people. "Calling  on  the  name  of 

the  Lord  "  must  be  of  and  from  the  heart,  since  such  salvation  can 
be  promised  to  no  other. The  primitive  Christians  were  distin- 
guished as  those  who  called  on  the  name  of  Christ  their  .Lord,  as 
God  ;  and  to  this  fact  there  may  be  here  a  prophetic  allusion.  The 
common  mode  of  reaching  the  sense,  however,  is  preferable;  all 
those  who  heartily  cry  unto  God  for  mercy  and  who  cast  themselves 

wholly  on  his  grace. "  The  remnant  whom  the  Lord  shall  call," 

are  the  same  people,  for  they  whom  the  Lord  calls  are  brought  to 
call  on  the  Lord.  In  this  very  thing  consists  the  efficiency  of  God's 
call  to  them.     It  moves  their  hearts  to  call  upon  him  in  sincerity. 

Thus,  in  the  severest  judgments  of  the  Lord  on  the  wicked, 

salvation  is  sure  to  those  who  take  hold  of  his  promised  mercy  and 
grace,  and  call  on  him  in  sincere  and  humble  prayer.  His  people 
find  a  sure  and  everlasting  refuge  beneath  the  wing  of  the  same 
Power,  whose  uplifted  arm  comes  down  in  vengeance  on  his  foes. 


CHAPTER    III. 

The  most  vital  and  therefore  the  first  step  toward  the  exposi- 
tion of  this  chapter  is,  to  determine  the  general  principles  of  its  in- 
terpretation. The  choice  lies  between  two  methods.  One  of  these 
is  ably  carried  out  by  Dr.  Henderson,  who  always  leans  strongly  to 
a  literal  and  specific  construction.  He  holds  that  the  passage  2 : 
28-32,  is  parenthetic,  interposed  between  passages  preceding  and 
succeeding,  both  of  which  were  fulfilled  at  least  a  century  or  more 
before  Christ ;  while  this  parenthetic  clause  carries  us  forward  (for 
the  moment  only)  to  the  times  of  Peter  and  the  Pentecost ;  that  this 
third  chapter  returns  again  to  the  restoration  from  captivity  in  Baby- 
lon and  to  the  destruction  of  Tyre,  Zidon,  &c,  during  the  two  or 
three  centuries  next  subsequent  to  that  restoration.  He  accounts 
it  the  main  drift  of  the  chapter  to  predict  the  retributive  judgments 


102  JOEL.— CHAP.  III. 

of  God  on  those  particular  nations,  and  then  to  portray  the  conse- 
quent peace  and  prosperity  of  the  Jews — all  in  the  period  prior  to 

the  Christian  era. The  other  method  makes  the  main  drift  and 

purpose  of  the  chapter  far  more  general  and  less  specific  in  regard 
to  the  nations  specially  named  in  it;  finds  here  the  general  doctrine 
of  God's  retributive  judgments  in  this  world  on  nations  and  powers 
arrayed  against  his  people  and  kingdom,  and  accounts  the  reference 
to  Tyre,  Zidon,  and  Philistia  (vs.  4-8),  as  rather  parenthetic  and  il- 
lustrative of  the  general  principle,  than  as  constituting  the  main 

subject  of  the  chapter. On  this  system  it  is  not  supposed  that 

more  is  said  of  Tyre  and  Zidon  than  was  true,  not  more  than  has 
been  punctually  fulfilled;  but  it  is  held  that  the  chapter  looks 
far  beyond  the  case  of  those  nations,  and  teaches  that  the  retri- 
bution which  blighted  them  falls  under  the  general  law,  serves  to 
illustrate  that  law,  and  finds  a  place  in  this  chapter  for  this  reason, 

and  not  as  being  the  leading  theme. 1  adopt  this  last-named 

method  of  interpretation,  and  shall  feel  at  liberty  to  present  it  with- 
out turning  aside  specially  to  controvert  the  other  scheme. 

The  relation  of  this  chapter  to  the  first  and  second  should  bo 
noticed. The  locust  army,  and  its  attendant  drought  and  conse- 
quent famine  and  distress,  gave  occasion  to  prayer,  fasting,  and  peni- 
tence, and  so  opened  the  way  for  the  signal  extermination  of  that 
army,  and  for  timely  rains  and  superabundant  harvests.  These 
lesser  gifts  suggested  the  far  greater  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  the  predic- 
tion of  which  constitutes  the  glory  of  the  closing  verses  of 
the  second  chapter. — —But  there  remains  yet  another  great  lesson 
of  moral  truth,  suggested  by  the  extermination  of  the  locust  horde 
— a  lesson  hinted  at  (2 :  30,  31)  in  the  allusion  to  "  the  great  and 
terrible  day  of  the  Lord,"  but  laid  over  for  its  special  presentation 
in  the  third  chapter,  viz.,  the  fearful  and  exterminating  retribution 
which  God  will  bring  on  all  those  nations  and  powers  which  per- 
sistently array  themselves  in  arms  against  his  kingdom  and  people. 
Hence  this  is  the  great  theme  of  the  chapter  before  us.  It  naturally 
closes  with  the  resulting  peace,  prosperity,  and  purity  of  the  res- 
cued and  saved  people  of  God. 

1.  For  behold,  in  those  clays,  and  in  that  time,  wlien 
I  shall  bring  again  the  .captivity  of  Judah  and  Jerusa- 
lem, 

The  first  word,  "For,"  indicates  a  close  connection  of  thought 
between  this  chapter  and  the  preceding.  The  prophet  had  said 
there  should  be  "^t  great  and  terrible  day  of  the  Lord,"  so  sweep- 
ing in  the  ruin  it  brings  that  none  shall  escape  it  but  those  win; 
call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord.  Here,  resuming  this  subject,  he 
begins  to  give  the  reason,  u  For  I  will  gather  all  nations,"  i.  c,  for 

trial  and  retribution. "Behold"    calls  special  attention  as  to 

truths  of  momentous  import. The  time  when,  is  indicated  next, 

viz.,  when  he  shall  interpose  to  redeem  his  people  and  bring  them 
out  of  all  their  affliction.     The  phrase,  "  bring  again  the  captivity 


JOEL.— CHAP.   III.  1Q3 

• 
of  Jndah  and  Jerusalem,"  admits  this  general  sense,  as  may  be  seen 
in  Job  42 :  10,  where  it  is  said  that  "the  Lord  turned  the  captivity 
of  Job" — of  course,  not  in  the  specific  sense  of  bringing  him  back 
from  some  captivity  in  a  foreign  land,  but  in  the  general  one  of 
bringing  him  out  of  a  state  of  great  affliction.  So,  also,  Ezekiel 
(16:  53-55)  speaks  hypothetical^  of  bringing  again  the  captivity 
Of  Sodom  and  Samaria,  but  explains  the  sense  by  saying,  "when 
Sodom  and  Samaria  shall  return  to  their  former  estate."  "We  are 
not,  therefore,  shut  up  to  find  the  fulfilment  of  this  chapter  at  the 
precise  time  of  some  actual  restoration  of  Judah  from  a  real  cap- 
tivity under  some  hostile  nation.  The  general  sense  is  indeed  more 
probable— When  I  shall  turn  my  hand  from  afflicting  to  restoring 
and  blessing  my  people,  then  will  I  visit  retribution  on  all  their  foes. 

2.  I  will  also  gather  all' nations,  and  will  bring  them 
down  into  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  and  will  plead 
with  them  there  for  my  people  and  for  my  heritage  Is- 
rael, whom  they  have  scattered  among  the  nations,  and 
parted  my  land. 

On  this  verse,  the  leading  question  is,  whether  this  gathering  of 
•all  nations  is  to  be  understood  literally,  or  only  as  a  figure  for 
a  general  retribution  ?  Under  this  arises  the  question,  whether  the 
valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  as  thought  of  by  Joel,  was  real,  or  only 

ideal  ? In  my  opinion  ideal  only,  for  there  is  no  proof  that  any 

actual  valley  was  then  known  by  this  name.  The  name  occurs  no- 
where else  in  the  Scriptures,  applied  to  any  valley.  In  later  times 
(i.  e.,  since  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century),  the  name  has  been 
given  to  the  valley  of  the  Kidron  (in  1ST.  T.,  Cedron),  which  skirts 
Jerusalem  on  the  east.  "With  this  modern  application  of  the  name 
is  connected  the  current  belief  among  Jews,  Catholics,  and  Moham- 
medans, that  the  last  judgment  will  be  held  in  this  valley.  This 
fact  goes  far  to  show  that  the  name  Jehoshaphat  was  applied  to  this 
valley  upon  the  mere  supposition  that  Joel  referred  to  it,  and  hence 
is  modern  only  and  not  ancient,,  and  therefore  affording  no  proof 

that  Joel  referred  to  this  valley. On  the  other  hand,  the  name  is 

chosen  because  of  its  Hebrew  significance — Jelwvali  judges — and  a 
"valley  "  is  thought  of  because  in  this  hilly  country  valleys  afford 

the  only  fit  locations  for  convening  a  vast  multitude. That  the 

writer's  mind  is  specially  on  the  significance  of  the  word  Jehosha- 
phat (Jehovah  judges),  is  more  obvious  in  the  Hebrew  than  in  our 
English,  since  the  verb  rendered,  "plead  with,"  is  from  the  same 
root.  "  I  will  bring  them  into  the  valley  of  the  LorcVs  judgment, 
and  there  will  I  judge  them,"  i.  <?.,  hold  court  for  their  trial  on  the 

charge  of  scattering  my  people  and  dividing  their  land. The 

reader  should  also  notice  in  this  connection  v.  12 :  "Let  the  heathen 
be  wakened  and  come  up  to  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat ;  for  there 
will  I  sit  to  judge  all  the  heathen  round  about."  The  idea  is  that 
of  a  grand  assizo,  a  sublime  court,  held  for  the  trial  and  condemna- 


104:  JOEL.— CHAP.  III. 

tion  of  tlio  whole  heathen  world,  so  far  as  they  have  been  guilty  of 
wrong  and  abuse  against  the  known  people  of  God. 

The  description  of  this  scene  is  continued,  vs.  11, 13-16. The 

conception  is  very  similar  to  that  of  the  final  judgment,  as  it  ap- 
pears in  the  New  Testament ;  yet  this  day  of  Joel  cannot  be  iden- 
tical with  that,  because  here  we  have  nations  on  trial ;  there  indi- 
viduals :  here  only  those  nations  which  have  been  known  as  enemies 
of  the  covenant  people ;  there  all  people  of  all  time — the  entire 
population  of  our  earth.  This  takes  place  in  time ;  that  only  at 
the  end  of  time,  as  measured  for  this  world  by  the  great  lights 

God  has  set  in  our  heavens. Let  it  be  considered  yet  further : — 

No  valley,  certainly  not  the  one  now  called  the  valley  of  Jehosha- 
phat,  could  suffice  for  convening  all  the  nations  specially  named  in 
this  chapter — to  say  nothing  of  the  untold  myriads  really  included 
under  this  general  description.* 

I  am  brought,  then,  by  this  mass  of  concurrent  evidence,  to 
adopt  the  ideal  sense  of  "the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat" — meaning 
any  valley — any  circumstances  in  which  Jehovah  judges  guilty  na- 
tions. The  fact  that  he  does  judge  them,  and  visit  upon  them  retri- 
bution in  time,  is  the  thing  taught ; — the  place  where,  and  its  sur- 
roundings, are  only  the  ideal  drapery  of  the  scene,  designed  to 
make  the  fact  more  tangible  to  the  imagination. 

3.  And  they  have  cast  lots  for  my  people ;  'and  have 
given  a  boy  for  a  harlot,  and  sold  a  girl  for  wine,  that 
they  might  drink. 

Here  are  more  specifications  in  the  indictment  against  these  na- 
tions. They  have  not  only  scattered  the  chosen  people  among  the 
nations  and  parted  their  land,  but  have  cast  lots  over  the  captives 
(see  traces  of  this  usage  in  ancient  times,  Obadiah,  v.  11,  and  Ga- 
lium 3 :  10) ;  and  as  showing  both  the  wickedness  of  these  conquer- 
ors, and  the  contempt  they  felt  for  their  captives,  they  gave  a  boy 
for  the  temporary  hire  of  a  harlot,  and  sold  a  girl  for  one  drink  of 

wine. Is  it  strange  that  the  heart  of  the  great  Father  should 

take  fire  against  such  abominations  ? 

4.  Yea,  and  what  have  ye  to  do  with  me,  O  Tyre, 
and  Zidon,  and  all  the  coasts  of  Palestine  ?  will  ye  ren- 
der me  a  recompense  ?  and  if  ye  recompense  me,  swiftly 
and  speedily  will  I  return  yonr  recompense  upon  yonr 
own  head ; 

*  Still  further ;  the  Hebrews  had  one  general  term  for  a  broad  valley1 
used  here;  applied  also  to  the  broad  valley  of  Esdraeion,  and  to  several 
others;  but  never  to  the  valley  of  the  Kidron.  They  had  another  term,2 
more  specific,  for  a  narrow  gorge,  the  bed  of  a  winter  torrent,  which  is 
commonly,  if  not  universally,  nsed  for  the  gorge  of  the  Kidron ;  e.  g.  2  Sam. 
15:23,  and  I  Kings  2 :  37  and  15:13;  Jer.  31 :  40.  Thus  Hebrew  usage 
seems  to  forbid  the  reference  of  Joel  to  the  gorge  of  the  Kidron. 

1  P»»  2  bra 


JOEL.— CHAP.   III.  1Q5 

"  What  have  ye  to  do  with  me  ? "  fails  to  express  quite  clearly 
the  exact  sense.  Better,  and  strictly  literal  is  this:  "What  are  yo 
tome,  O  Tyre?"  etc.  What  account  do  I  make  of  you?  What 
reason  have  I  to  fear  your  petty  wrath  ?  As  the  context  goes  on 
to  say — Will  ye  think  to  rise  against  my  scourging  hand  and  wreak 
your  vengeance  on  mo,  or  on  my  people  ?  Will  ye  retaliate  on  me  ? 
If  ye  attempt  it,  very  speedily  and  swiftly  will  I  hurl  hack  your  re- 
taliation upon  your  own  heads. Of  course,  in  this  lofty  strain, 

the  Lord  speaks  after  the  manner  of  men,  but  as  one  conscious  of 
infinite  power  to  pnnish  his  foes,  and  fully  purposed  to  visit  on 
them  most  ample  and  righteous  retribution. As  already  intimat- 
ed in  the  introductory  remarks  upon  this  chapter,  these  nations, 
Tyre,  Zidon,  and  Philistia,  are  named  here,  not  as  being  the  only 
nations  involved  in  this  great  judgment,  but  as  present  to  the  minds 
of  the  prophet  and  of  his  first  'readers,  and  as  fitting  illustrations, 
therefore,  of  the  great  truths  he  would  impress. 

5.  Because  ye  have  taken  my  silver  and  my  gold, 
and  have  carried  into  your  temples  my  goodly  pleasant 
things. 

The  silver  and  the  gold  which  they  had  taken  from  Israel  by 
robbery,  the  Lord  calls  his  own — "my  silver."  Whatever  of  most 
costly  value  they  could  find  they  had  borne  into  their  own  idol 
temples,  as  a  trophy  of  conquest  over  the  people  of  God,  and  the 
Lord  remembers  this  against  them ! 

6.  The  children  also  of  Judah  and  the  children  of 
Jerusalem  have  ye  sold  unto  the  Grecians,  that  ye  might 
remove  them  far  from  then  border. 

The  captives  they  had  taken  from  his  people  they  had  sold  to 
the  Grecians,  in  order  to  remove  them  far  as  possible  from  then- 
homes,  that  they  might  never  return. 

1.  Behold,  I  will  raise  them  out  of  the  place  whither 
ye  have  sold  them,  and  will  return  your  recompense 
upon  your  own  head. 

God  will  recover  them  notwithstanding,  and  will  bring  retribu- 
tion on  their  captors,  who  had  held,  or  had  sold  them  as  slaves. 

8.  And  I  will  sell  your  sons  and  your  daughters  into 
the  land  of  the  children  of  Judah,  and  they  shall  sell 
them  to  the  Sabeans,  to  a  people  far  off:  for  the  Loed 
hath  spoken  it. 

This  retaliation  in  kind  should  perhaps  be  taken  as  a  case  of 
speaking  after  the  manner  of  men,  and  not  by  any  means  as  imply- 
ing that  God  can  ever  sanction  the  selling  of  men  into  slavery,  or 
can  authorize  his  people  to  do  it,  even  in  retaliation  for  like  offence 
5* 


J  06  JOEL.— CHAP.  III. 

and  abuse. It  should,  however,  be  considered  that  God,  iu  re- 
tributive justice  and  judgment  on  wicked  nations,  may,  through  his 
providential  agencies,  suffer  other  wicked  nations  to  enslave  them, 
without  at  all  "sanctioning  as  morally  right  their  free  acts  in  enslav- 
ing men.  This  distinction  is  one  of  vital  moment  in  regard  to 
God's  providential  agencies  in  his  government  over  nations,  and,  in- 
deed, over  individuals  no  less.  When  the  Lord  sends  the  scourge 
of  war  on  a  nation  it  will  not  follow  that  he  accepts  as  morally 
right  the  ambition  or  the  cruelty  that  instigated  the  aggressive 
power,  nor  does  he  make  himself  responsible  for  their  moral  acts, 
however  he  may  permit  their  existence  and  providentially  direct 
their  blow. 

9.  Proclaim  ye  this  among  the  Gentiles;  Prepare 
war,  wake  up  the  mighty  men,  let  all  the  men  of  war 
draw  near ;  let  them  come  up  ; 

10.  Beat  your  ploughshares  into  swords,  and  your 
priming-hooks  into  spears :  let  the  weak  say,  I  am  strong. 

Having  finished  the  digression  in  respect  to  Tyre,  etc.,  and  the 
form  of  retribution  destined  for  them,  the  prophet  now,  speaking 
in  behalf  of  the  Almighty,  daringly  challenges  the  Gentile  hosts  to 

muster  for  the  mighty  conflict. The  first  word  of  the  challenge, 

rendered  "prepare"  war,  carries  with  it  the  idea  of  proclaiming 
war  in  the  most  solemn  manner  with  religious  rites,  It  is  the  com- 
mon word  for  "sanctify,"  and  means  here — make  this  war  a  sacred 
thing;  bind  yourselves  to  it  by  solemn  oaths,  and  invoke  all  your 

gods»to  your  help. Beating  ploughshares  into  swords  reverses  the 

long  prayed  for  consummation  when  swords  shall  be  beaten  into 
ploughshares.  The  sense  is — prepare  for  universal  war.  The  im- 
plements on  hand  might  suffice  for  any  ordinary  war,  but  not  for 
this;  now  you  must  needs  arm  every  man,  and  hence  you  must 

convert  even  the  tools  of  agriculture  into  weapons  of  war. Let 

the  conscription  be  absolutely  universal.  Let  no  invalid  plead  ex- 
emption ;  "let  even  the  weak  say,  I  am  strong." 

11.  Assemble  yourselves,  and  come,  all  ye  heathen, 
and  gather  yourselves  together  round  about:  thither 
cause  thy  mighty  ones  to  come  down,  O  Lord. 

Then  with  striking  beauty  and  force  the  prophet  suddenly  turns 
to  the  other  party  in  the  conflict:  "  Thither  bring  down  thy  mighty 

ones,  Jehovah !  " How  fearful  is  this  great  battle  of  earth  now 

coming  on ! 

12.  Let  the  heathen  be  wakened,  and  come  up  to 
the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat :  for  there  will  I  sit  to  judge 
all  the  heathen  round  about. 

See  notes  on  v.  2.     Observe  also  haw  quietly  the  strain  of  the 


JOEL.— CHAP.  III.  107 

passage  assumes  that  this  dread  array  of  armed  nations,  vast  aa 
numbers  without  number,  and  girded  all  for  bloody  war,  results  in 
no  war  at  all.  Their  weapons  amount  to  nothing  ;  they  are  thero 
only  for  judgment— culprits  before  the  King  and  Judge  of  the  uni- 
verse !  They  suddenly  find  themselves  on  no  battle-ground,  but 
summoned  to  the  valley  where  Jehovah  judges;  and  he  comes 
down  to  take  his  lofty  judgment  throne,  and  "  sit  to  judge  all  these 

nations   round  about." What   quiet,    unostentatious   majesty! 

How  does  such  real  greatness  eclipse  all  the  assembled  littleness  of 
the  gathered  myriads  of  the  heathen  i 

13.  Put  ye  in  the  sickle,  for  the  harvest  is  ripe : 
come,  get  you  down  ;  for  the  press  is  full,  the  fats  over- 
flow ;  for  their  wickedness  is  great. 

Here  are  symbols  of  terrific  slaughter — the  sickle  laying  low 
the  ripened  grain,  and  the  wine- vats  full  and  trodden  till  they  over- 
flow with  wine— which  in  such   a  connection  represents  human 

blood. Dropping  all  figure,  the  reason  is  given  in  plain  language 

—"For  their  wickedness  is  great  "—not  "the  wickedness,"  in- 
definitely, but  t7ieirs,  the  wickedness  of  these  hostile  nations. 

14.  Multitudes,  multitudes  in  the  valley  of  decision  : 
for  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  near  in  the  valley  of  decision. 

Their  vast  number  strikes  the  prophet's  mind,  and  prompts  the 
exclamation,  "  O,  the  multitudes !  the  multitudes  in  this  valley  of 

judgment!  " -The  word  rendered  "decision"  means  judgment 

in  the  sense  of  a  final  verdict  which  decides  the  criminal's  destiny, 
past  all  reversal.  See  the  usage  of  the  original  word,  1  Kings  29  :  40, 
and  Isa.  10:22.— — This  is  "the  day  of  the  Lord;"  it  comes  ex- 
ceedingly near  m  this  valley  of  judgment.  The  word  "near" 
should  not  carry  the  mind  onward  to  any  other  day  beyond  this. 
God  is  here,  and  his  great  day  has  come ! 

15.  The  sun  and  the  moon  shall  be  darkened,  and 
the  stars  shall  withdraw  their  shining. 

These  figures  must  here  take  their  usual  sense— extreme  calamity 
—casting  the  deep  shades  of  night  over  all  the  hopes  of  the  wicked 
— engulfing  them  in  deep,  impenetrable  darkness.  So  in  all 
languages,  of  every  land  or  nation,  darkness  is  the  symbol  of  what- 
ever is  most  fearful  to  rational  beings. 

16.  The  Lokd  shall  also  roar  out  of  Zion,  and  utter 
his  voice  from  Jerusalem;  and  the  heavens  and  the 
earth  shall  shake :  but  the  Lord  will  be  the  hope  of  his 
people,  and  the  strength  of  the  children  of  Israel. 

In  this  strain  of  the  boldest  poetic  imagery,  the  Lord  becomes 
a  lion,  and  his  roar  shakes  the  heavens  and  the  earth.  See  the 
same  figure  under  analogous  circumstances,  Jer.  25  :  30  ;  Isa.  42  :  13. 


108  JOEL.— CHAP.  III. 

This  roar  comes  forth  "  out  of  Zion?'1  because  there,  in  the 

deep  recesses  of  the  temple,  Jehovah  dwelt.  This  was  not  only 
current  and  accepted  Jewish  opinion ;  it  was  fact.  His  manifested 
presence  was  there;  and  he  was  careful  to  impress  this  upon  the 
hearts  of  the  people. The  "voice  of  the  Lord,"  in  such  a  con- 
nection as  this,  is  thunder,  as  throughout  Ps.  29. These  figures, 

combined,  give  the  climax  of  the  dreadful  scene,  in  which  blended 
terror  and  majesty,  justice  and  wrath,  encircle  and  gird  the  throne 
of  the  Almighty  round  about,  as,  with  the  guilty  nations,  the  op 
pressors  of  his  people,  assembled  before  him,  he  sits  for  judgment 

and  final  decision. Then,  with    inimitable   beauty  and  force, 

turning  to  those  on  his  right  hand  (may  we  not  borrow  from  that 
other  analogous  scene?)  he  says  :  "But  the  Lord  will  be  the  hope 
of  his  people,  and  the  strength  of  the  children  of  Israel."  They 
may  trust  their  God  forever.  He  is  their  strength  in  every  hour 
of  their  weakness.  He  stands  for  their  deliverance,  and  for  retri- 
bution on  their  foes. "  Children  of  Israel  "  is  here  parallel  to 

"  his  people;"  the  latter,  and  consequently  the  former,  including  far 
more  than  the  lineal  seed  of  Abraham. 

17.  So  shall  ye  know  that  I  am  the  Lord  your  God 
dwelling  in  Zion,  my  holy  mountain :  then  shall  Jeru- 
salem be  holy,  and  there  shall  no  strangers  pass  through 
her  any  more. 

"  So  shall  ye  Tcnoio  " — know  in  your  own  case  and  by  your  own 
full  experience  of  his  saving  power  and  loving  heart,  that  he  is 
Jehovah — forever  the  same ;  that  he  "  dwells  in  Zion,"  manifesting 
his  presence,  care,  and  love  among  his  people  forever ;  and,  what  is 
more,  making  it  his  holy  mountain  by  purify  inghis  people  there. 

■ "  Then  shall  Jerusalem  be  holy  " — a  statement  which  clearly 

identifies  these  events  in  their  general  character  with  those  which 
close  the  second  chapter  of  tins  prophet — the  outpouring  of  the 
Spirit  on  the  children  of  Zion  first,  and  then  on  all  flesh ;  for  cer- 
tainly, Jerusalem  never  becomes  holy  save  under  this  great  sancti- 
fying agency. "Strangers,"  foreign  and  alien  in  spirit,  heathen, 

wicked  men — shall  not  traverse  the  holy  city  any  more — shall  not 
come  and  go  as  if  of  her  and  having  rights  in  her  sanctuaries  and 

palaces.  No  more  shall  such  intruders  defile  the  church  of  God. 

This  betokens  an  eminent  degree  of  real  purity  and  holiness  among 
God's  people. 

18.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  the 
mountains  shall  drop  down  new  wine,  and  the  hills  shall 
flow  with  milk,  and  all  the  rivers  of  Judah  shall  flow 
with  waters,  and  a  fountain  shall  come  forth  of  the  house 
of  the  Loud,  and  shall  water  the  valley  of  Shittiin. 

This  description,  looking  somewhat  to  that  ancient  one  of 
the  goodly  land  as  flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  names  earthly 


JOEL.— CHAP.  III.  109 

good,  but  manifestly  means  heavenly.  Jewish  costume  and 
imagery  are  to  be  translated  so  as  to  give  us  the  fulness  of  gospel 
significance — the  language  of  the  material  Canaan  into  the  lan- 
guage of   the   spiritual,    which  is  far  better. The    last  clause 

strongly  implies  and  demands  this  significance.  "  A  fountain  comes 
forth  from  the  house  of  the  Lord,"  where  the  institutions  of 
religious  instruction  and  worship'  are  in  power — "  and  it  waters 
all  the  valley  of  Acacias"  this  being  the  sense  of  the  word 
"  Shittim."  And  inasmuch  as  the  oriental  acacia  enjoys  the  sterile 
valley,  and  puts  forth  its  redeeming  beauty  and  fragrance  there 
where  nothing  else  does,  we  find  here  the  idea  that  the  gospel  turns 
barrenness  to  plenty,  sterility  to  verdure,  sin  to  holiness,  and  woe 
to  bliss,  all  over  this  sin-wasted  earth.  Ezekiel's  living  waters 
(chap.  47),  starting  from  the  same  source,  flow  into  similar  desola- 
tions, and  produce  a  like  result  Of  health,  beauty,  and  glory. 

19.  Egypt  shall  be  a  desolation,  and  Eclom  shall  be 
a  desolate  wilderness,  for  the  violence  against  the  chil- 
dren of  Jndah,  because  they  have  shed  innocent  blood  in 
their  land. 

Prophecies  that  are  alike  millennial  in  their  import  differ  in  one 
respect  among  themselves,  really  falling  into  two  classes.  One  class 
represents  the  whole  world  as  radiant  with  light  and  glory,  peace 
and  love — the  earth  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  as  the  waters 
cover  the  sea  (Isa.  11 :  9)  : — "in  every  place  incense  offered  to  my 
name,  and  a  pure  offering"  (Mai.  1 :  11) ;  &c,  &c.  ;  while  another 
class  (like  the  passage  before  us)  still  leaves  on  the  picture  some 
traces  of  the  awful  mischiefs  sin  has  wrought.  "  Egypt  is  a  desola- 
tion, and  Edom  a  desolate  wilderness,"  as  if  to  heighten  by  con- 
trast the  beauty  and  glory  of  the  people  and  kingdom  of  the  Lord. 
Pressed  to  its  literal  sense,  it  could  only  mean  that  some  districts, 
most  notoriously  representing  the  persistent  and  sworn  enemies  of 
God's  people,  shall  lie  desolate,  while  all  around  them,  even  all  else 
on  the  face  of  the  earth,  blooms  in  beauty  and  fertility.  Those 
desolations  lie  in  their  ruins — like  hell  among  the  myriads  of  holy 
worlds — a  swift  and  perpetual  witness  to  the  fearfulness  of  sinning 
against  God,  and  to  the  certainty  of  woe  to  all  sinners  who  will  not 

repent. Egypt  and  Edom  were  the  oldest  national  enemies  of  the 

covenant  people.  They  are  doomed  because  of  their  violence  against 
Judah  and  the  innocent  blood  they  have  shed  in  the  Lord's  land. 

20.  But  Judah  shall  dwell  for  ever,  and  Jerusalem 
from  generation  to  generation. 

21.  For  I  will  cleanse  their  blood  that  I  have  not 
cleansed :  for  the  Loed  dwelleth  in  Zion. 

Judah  shall  be  inhabited  forever,  dwelling  in  her  places.  This 
perpetuity  affirmed  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem,  must  certainly  apply 
only  to  the  real  Judah — the  true  people  of  God.  The  Judah  that  was 


HO  JOEL.— CHAP.  III. 

after  the  flesh  and  was  of  the  flesh  only,  never  can  fill  the  sense 
of  these  precious    words.      See  Notes  on  Hos.  1 :  10,  11,  and  also 

Dissertation  II.  in  the  Appendix. The  word  rendered  u  cleanse  " 

means,  to  regard  as  innocent,  and  therefore  to  treat  accord- 
ingly. This  might  imply  either  that  God,  at  length,  freely  and 
fully  forgives  their  sin  and  puts  it  forever  away ;  or  that  he  avenges 
it  up»n  her  foes  ;  probably  the  former,  at  least;  possibly  the  latter 

also.     Both  ideas  are  fully  brought  out  in  this  chapter. It  might 

well  have  been  remarked  ere  this,  that  very  much  the  same  course 
of  thought  as  appears  in  this  chapter  of  Joel  may  be  seen  also  in 
Isa.  GG  :  14-2-1,  and  in  Jer.  25  :  12-38 ;  in  Zech.  14 ;  and  in  Ezekiel, 
chapters  37-48. — The  passage  in  Joel,  coupled  with  these  just  above 
noted,  suggest  this  grave  and  truly  momentous  question — Whether 
the  final  conquest  of  the  world  by  the  Messiah  will  or  will  not  bo 
effected  in  large  measure  by  the  destruction  of  incorrigible  enemies. 
Are  we  authorized  to  expect  a  mingling  of  judgment  and  mercy 
among  the  agencies  in  this  great  conquest ;  and  if  so,  can  we  infer 
with  any  considerable  accuracy  the  relative  measure  of  each?  or  to 
put  the  case  more  precisely,  the  relative  numbers  of  earth's  popula- 
tion at  that  time,  destroyed  by  judgments  on  the  one  hand,  and 
saved  by  mercy  on  the  other.  This  is  not  the  place  for  an  extend- 
ed discussion  of  this  question. Let  it  suffice  then  to  say  that  the 

tenor  of  prophecy  as  well  as  the  genius  of  the  gospel  system, 
authorize  us  to  expect  the  conversion  of  the  world  by  means  of  those 
very  gospel  agencies,  which  were  employed  and  consecrated  by 
Christ  himself — the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  the  faithful  testimony 
of  his  people,  and  the  gift  of  his  Spirit ;  that  the  Lord  has  always 
carried  along  a  coordinate  work  of  retributive  justice  and  judgment 
on  the  wicked  in  this  world,  sometimes  more  and  sometimes  less 
prominent ;  that  he  may,  to  cut  short  the  reign  of  Satan,  intensify 
these  agencies  of  retribution  in  the  latter  days;  that  universally 
the  underlying  principle  is,  bow  or  break — repent,  or  be  broken 
in  pieces,  so  that  the  finally  incorrigible  may  always  know  their 
certain  doom.  Hence  we  should  not  expect  a  definite  revelation  of 
the  relative  numbers  of  the  saved  on  the  one  hand,  or  of  the 
hardened  and  destroyed  on  the  other.  It  is  God's  way  to  leave  the 
principles  of  his  moral  government  and  his  policy  in  its  adminis- 
tration in  such  shape  as  will  bring  the  most  solemn  and  effective 
moral  pressure  to  bear  toward  repentance  and  consequent  salvation. 
His  problem  is— judgment  and  mercy  being  given — so  to  arrange 
and  mingle  them  as  to  persuade  the  greatest  number  to  flee  from 
the  judgment  and  take  hold  of  the  mercy.     Could  he  do  better  ? 

Thus  ends  this  grand,  sublime,  and  glorious  chapter!  We  might 
fitly  apply  these  epithets  to  the  whole  book,  for  few  more  sublime 
compositions  can  anywhere  be  found,  distinguished  for  conceptions 
so  lofty,  a  style  so  pure,  truths  so  vast,  so  far  reaching,  so  vital  to 
the  moral  government  of  God  over  nations,  and  so  fraught  with 

instruction  to  mankind. Hay  the  reader  catch  the  inspiration 

of  this  admirable  book,  and  drink  deeply  of  its  pure  and  healing 
waters ! 


AMOS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Of  the  previous  life  of  Amos  before  he  became  a  prophet  we  learn, 
from  chapter  1:1,  that  he,  "was  among  the  herdmen  of  Tekoa,  and 
from  7 :  14, 15,  that  he  was  not  born  in  the  line  of  the  prophets,  but 
was  "  an  hefdman  and  a  gatherer  of  sycamore  fruit,"  and  that  "  the 
Lord  took  him  as  he  was  following  the  flock,  and  said  to  him,  "  Go, 
prophesy  unto  my  people  Israel."  What  the  book  itself  thus  states, 
its  style,  its  choice  of  words  and  figures,  and  its  numerous  indica- 
tions of  familiarity  with  the  scenes  of  husbandry,  most  abundantly 
confirm.  His  case,  therefore,  shows  that  the  old  dispensation  as  well 
as  the  new,  honored  the  humble  and  laboring  classes,  and  drew 
some  at  least  of  its  most  effective  helpers  from  among  "  the  poor 

of  this  world." Though  a  native  and  early  resident  of  Judah, 

("Tekoa"  being  within  this  kingdom),  his  prophetic  mission  was 
to  the  northern  kingdom  exclusively.  In  chapter  7 :  10-17  it  ap- 
pears that  he  was  then  in  Bethel,  and  had  made  that  city  his  resi- 
dence.    More  than  this  is  not  known. His  first  verse  fixes  the 

date  of  his  prophetic  life  within  the  reigns  of  Uzziah,  king  of  Judah 
(b.  o.  811-759),  and  of  Jeroboam,  son  of  Joash,  king  of  Israel  (b.  c. 
825-784).  How  large  a  part  of  the  sixty-six  years,  from  the  ac- 
cession of  Jeroboam  to  the  death  of  Uzziah,  he  was  engaged  in  his 
prophetic  work,  is  not  said,  nor  whether  his  time  lay  nearer  the  close 
or  the  beginning  of  this  period.  There  are  good  reasons  for  suppos- 
ing that  he  was  somewhat  later  than  Joel,  but  contemporary,  during 
at  least  a  part  of  his  prophetic  life,  with  Ilosea,  very  probably  ear- 
lier than  the  active  years  of  Isaiah  and  Micah.  He  finds  the  same 
sins  prevalent  and  calling  for  rebuke  that  Ilosea  found. His  Ian- 


112  AMOS.— CHAP.  I. 

guage  is  less  terse  than  that  of  Hosea,  less  sublime  than  that  of 
Joel,  but  yet  by  no  means  unworthy  of  a  place  among  the  noblest 
writings  the  world  ever  saw.  His  style  is  clear,  forcible,  and  in 
some  passages  grand,  particularly  in  his  descriptions  of  the  majesty 

and  power  of  Jehovah. Commissioned  especially  to  rebuke  the 

sins  of  Israel,  he  yet  in  the  first  and  second  chapters  denounces 
judgments  on  six  other  contiguous  powers  outside  of  Judah  and 
Israel,  and  then  upon  these  two  in  like  general  terms.  Then  in 
chapters  3-6  he  exposes  and  reproves  in  detail  the  sins  of  Israel, 

and  threatens  judgments  therefor. The  last  three  chapters  differ 

from  this  middle  portion  by  the  introduction  of  visions  for  purposes 
of  more  vivid  illustration,  and  by  the  blending  of  promise  with  the 
general  strain  of  threatening.  The  book  closes  with  predictions  of 
peace  and  prosperity  to  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth. 


CHAPTER    I. 

After  a  very  brief  introduction,  which  gives  us  the  name  of  the 
author  and  the  date  of  his  prophecies,  the  chapter  proceeds  at 
once  to  name  the  crowning  sin  of  five  adjacent  nations,  and  to  an- 
nounce the  judgments  of  God  upon  them.  They  are  Syria,  the 
Philistines,  Tyre,  Edom,  and  Ammon.  His  main  object  in  this  is 
to  make  the  stronger  impression  upon  Israel.  If  for  their  sins  God 
must  scourge  and  even  exterminate  heathen  powers  sitting  in  the 
dimness  of  the  light  of  nature,  how  much  more  mast  he  for  your 
sins  scourge  you  to  whom  his  word  has  come ! 

1.  The  words  of  Amos,  who  was  among  the  herd- 
men  of  Tekoa,  which  he  saw  concerning  Israel  in  the 
days  of  Uzziah  king  of  Judah,  in  the  days  of  Jeroboam 
the  son  of  Joash  king  of  Israel,  two  years  before  the 
earthquake. 

Most  of  the  points  named  hero  came  before  ns  in  the  general 

introduction. This  "  earthquake  "  is  commonly  supposed  to  be 

that  of  which  Zechariah  speaks  (14:  5),  "Ye  shall  flee  like  as  ye 
fled  from  before  the  earthquake  in  the  days  of  Uzziah,  king  of 
Judah."  Since  Amos  prophesied  during  Uzziah's  reign,  and  since 
they  both  refer  to  an  earthquake  of  great  power  and  prominence, 
it  may  be  safely  assumed  that  they  speak  of  the  same.  But  at 
what  point  during  the  fifty-two  years  of  Uzziah's  reign  this  oc- 
curred is  not  said. 

2.  And  he  said,  The  Lord  will  roar  from  Zion,  and 


AMOS.— CHAP.  I.  H3 

utter  his  voice  from  Jerusalem ;  and  the  habitations  of 
the  shepherds  shall  mourn,  and  the  top  of  Carmel  shall 
wither. 

The  first  half  of  tins  verse  seems  to  be  borrowed  from  Joel 
3  :  1G.  In  Joel  the  passage  makes  so  close  connection  with  what 
precedes,  that  it  must  be  admitted  to  stand  "  in  place?  as  the  geol- 
ogists say  of  specimens  found  in  their  original  rock.  Not  so  in 
Amos.  If  we  supply  "  as  another  prophet  has  said,"  we  shall  not 
at  all  disturb  the  flow  of  thought.  Moreover,  Joel  prophesied  ue- 
fore  Amos,  according  to  the  closest  estimate,  about  seventy-five 

years. The  last  half  of  the  verse  is  characteristic  of  Amos.     A 

man  who  came  up  among  herdmen  would  naturally  think  of  these 
rather  than  other  effects  of  the  Lord's  sore  judgments.  Carmel 
was  ordinarily  clothed  with  verdure  even  to  its  summit ;  hence  the 
fitness  of  saying  "  the  top  of  Carmel  shall  wither."  This  moun- 
tain lay  in  the  northwest  part  of  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes. 
The  word  Carmel  means  a  fruitful  field,  a  fact  which  makes  this  al- 
lusion the  more  forcible. In  the  passage  "  The  Lord  will  roar 

from  Zion,"  the  original  word  "  roar  "  is  used  commonly  of  the 
lion,  and  denotes  here  that  the  Lord  has  aroused  himself  like  the 
lion  of  the  forest,  to  assert  his  rule  among  the  nations,  and  espe- 
cially to  visit  retribution  on  those  which  had  filled  up  the  measure 
of  their  sins.  Such  a  roaring,  foreshowing  terrible  visitations  of 
judgment,  would  thrill  the  naiions  with  terror,  much  as  the  beasts 
of  the  forest  tremble  when  the  earth  quakes,  and  the  depths  of 
their  solitudes  reecho  to  the  lion's  roar. 

3.  Thus  saith  the  Loed  ;  For  three  transgressions  of 
Damascus,  and  for  four,  I  will  not  turn  away  the  pun- 
ishment thereof;  because  they  have  threshed  Gilead  with 
threshing  instruments  of  iron : 

4.  But  I  will  send  a  fire  into  the  house  of  Hazael, 
which  shall  devour  the  palaces  of  Ben-hadad. 

5.  I  will  break  also  the  bar  of  Damascus,  and  cut 
off  the  inhabitant  from  the  plain  of  Aven,  and  him  that 
holdeth  the  sceptre  from  the  house  of  Eden :  and  the 
people  of  Syria  shall  go  into  captivity  unto  Kir,  saith 
the  Loed. 

In  the  passage  commencing  here  and  extending  to  chap*.  2 :  0, 
eight  kingdoms  are  brought  up  in  succession,  with  Judah  and  Is- 
rael last.  Each  receives  its  message,  beginning,  "  Thus  saith  the 
Lord;  "  in  each  is  the  phraseology — "For  three  transgressions,  and 
for  four,  I  will  not  reverse  it ; "  each  specifies  the  last  and  most 
heinous  crime,  for  which,  especially  (it  would  seem),  the  judgment 
named  is  sent;  and  each  closes  with  naming  the  judgment.  This 
remarkable  uniformity  in  style  no  doubt  had  its  object.     It  natu- 


114  AMOS.— CHAP.  L 

rally  implied  that  the  same  God  of  nations  was  taking  them  all 
successively  in  hand  to  administer  justice  and  judgment  upon  each 
and  on  the  same  principles,  common  to  all.  It  was  well  adapted  to 
confirm  the  impression  that  Jehovah  is  indeed  the  ruler  of  nations, 
and  holds  them  to  a  solemn  responsibility,  here  in  time,  to  bear 
themselves  justly  and  not  oppressively  toward  each  other. — — More- 
over, as  already  intimated,  these  nations  contiguous  to  Judah  and 
Israel  are  mentioned  first,  to  prepare  the  minds  of  the  men  of  Ju- 
dah and  Israel  to  hear  then*  own  sin  and  doom — first  to  stir  up 
their  sense  of  justice  and  draw  out  their  approval  of  God's  right- 
eous ways,  and  then  to  say  to  them — "  Thou  art  the  man !  "  Fur- 
ther, the  argument  is  a  fortiori :  "  If  those  things  be  done  in  the 
green  tree" — to  those  heathen  benighted  kingdoms, — "what  shall 
be  done  in  the  dry  " — to  a  people  chosen  and  long  blessed  of  God, 

but  now  shamefully  apostate  and  incorrigible? And  yet  further, 

as  if  to  insure  the  more  certainly  a  righteous  judgment  in  the  minds 
of  Judah  and  Israel  against  their  heathen  neighbors,  the  sins  se- 
lected and  named  are  chiefly  those  committed  against  Judah  and 
Israel.  Everybody  sees,  feels,  and  condemns  a  wrong  done  against 
himself.  Under  this  law  of  even  depraved  human  nature,  God  first 
secured  from  his  professed  people  their  indignant  condemnation  of 
other  peoples'  sins,  and  then  lifted  the  curtain  to  show  them  their 

own! 'Tor  three  transgressions  and  for  four,"  as  to  the  form 

of  expression,  may  be  compared  with  numerous  other  passages  of 
Scripture  of  a  like  proverbial  character ;  e.  g.  Ex.  20 :  5 — "  Visiting 
the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children  unto  the  third  and 
fourth  generation  of  them  that  hate  me;  "  Job  5  :  19 — "  He  shall 
deliver  thee  in  six  troubles ;  yea,  in  seven  shall  no  evil  touch  thee ;  " 
Eccles.  11:2 — "Give  a  portion  to  seven,  and  also  to  eight;  for 
thou  knowest  not  what  evil  shall  be  upon  the  earth ;  "  Mic.  5  :  5 — 
"When  the  Assyrian  shall  come  into  our  land,  then  shall  we  raise 

against  him  seven  shepherds  and  eight  principal  men." These 

cases  establish  a  current  usage  of  definite  numbers  to  express  the 

indefinite  idea  of  several. But  the  thought  is  more  to  us  than 

the  drapery  that  clothes  or  adorns  it.  This  thought  is  that  these 
nations  had  been  adding  sin  to  sin,  running  up  a  long  unsettled  ac- 
count, until  at  last  some  one  sin,  perhaps  more  aggravated  than  any 
preceding,  filled  up  the  measure  of  their  iniquities,  and  demanded 
of  their  righteous  Ruler  his  visitation  of  terrible  judgment.  The 
fourth  and  crowning  crime  is  specified  in  each  case.  For  three  sins 
they  have  deserved  punishment,  and  the  decree  has  gone  out — for 
the  fourth  "I  will  not  reverse  it,"  saith  the  Lord,  but  (as  is  implied) 

will  proceed  without  delay  to  execute  it, It  is  noticeable  that 

the  original  has  no  word  for  punishment.  The  little  word  " U" 
suffixed  to  the  verb — I  will  not  reverse  it — leaves  us  to  find  its  an- 
tecedent in  the  never-failing  law  of  connection  between  sin  and 
punishment.  The  Lord  assumes  that  men  ought  to  know  icJiat  he 
will  not  reverse,  after  his  allusion  to  such  sins  as  these.  This  tacit 
assumption  that  judgment  must  follow  sin  has  in  itself  appalling 


AMOS.— CHAP.  I.  115 

force. "Damascus"  represents  Syria,  a  strong  and  flourish- 
ing- kingdom  on  the  north  and  northeast  of  Israel.  It  was  the 
capital. 

Their  last  sin  was  that  of  "threshing  Gil  cad  " — putting  its  in- 
habitants to  torture  and  death  under  the  huge  threshing-wain, 
armed  with  savage  iron  teeth,  and  drawn  by  animals  over  the  grain. 
See  a  case  of  such  treatment,  2  Sam.  12  :  31,  and  also  2  Kings  13  :  7 

— the  last  being  done  by  this  same  Hazael. The  name  Gilead 

covers  the  territory  of  the  two  and  a  half  tribes  east  of  Jordan. 
Lying  contiguous  to  Syria,  it  suffered  fearfully  from  that  kingdom. 

The  judgment  was  a  devouring  fire  sent  on  the  royal  house  of 

Hazael,  and  of  his  son  and  successor,  Ben-hadad.  (Both  his  father 
and  his  son  bore  this  name,  Ben-hadad ;  but  Amos  must  allude  to 
the  son.  See  2  Kings  13:3,  24.> "  The  bar  of  Damascus  "  rep- 
resents its  means  of  defence  and  protection  in  war.  "  The  inhabi- 
tant"— literally  he  who  sits,  i.  e.,  on  a  throne — is  parallel  to  "him 
that  holdeth  the  sceptre."     The  sense  is  that  their  government 

should  be  utterly  broken  down,  and  their  nationality  cease. Tho 

word  "  Aven"  is  probably  changed  from  On,  the  Syrian  name  of  a 
beautiful  valley,  the  country-seat,  it  may  be,  of  their  king.  The 
Hebrews,  changing  its  vowels,  called  it  Aven,  to  represent  the  con- 
temptible idolatry  of  the  Syrians.  See  the  same  word,  Aven, 
wrought  into  the  name  Beth-el  (Beth-Aven),  for  a  similar  reason, 

Hos.  4: 15,  and  10:  5,  8. "House  of  Eden,"  equal  to  Paradise, 

is  another  delightful  locality,  and  was  called  in  ancient  authors, 
Paradise. Tiglath-Pileser,  king  of  Assyria,  fulfilled  this  predic- 
tion. He  took  the  people  into  captivity  to  Kir,  the  river  and  region 
known  as  Cyrus,  in  Iberia.  See  this  fact  in  history,  2  Kings  16  :  9. 
"  The  king  of  Assyria  went  up  against  Damascus  and  took  it,  and 
carried  the  people  of  it  captive  to  Kir,  and  slew  Eezin." 

6.  Thus  saith  the  Lokd  ;  For  throe  transgressions  of 
Gaza,  and  for  fonr,  I  will  not  turn  away  the  punishment 
thereof:  because  they  carried  away  captive  the  whole 
captivity,  to  deliver  them  np  to  Edoni : 

T.  But  I  will  send  a  fire  on  the  wall  of  Gaza,  which 
shall  devour  the  palaces  thereof: 

8.  And  I  will  cut  off  the  inhabitant  from  Ashdod, 
and  him  that  holdeth  the  sceptre  from  Ashkelon,  and  I 
will  turn  mine  hand  against  Ekron :  and  the  remnant 
of  the  Philistines  shall  perish,  saith  the  Lord  God. 

Gaza,  the  northern  of  the  five  chief  cities  of  the  Philistines,  rep- 
resents here  the  whole  cluster.  Gath,  the  only  one  of  the  five  not 
named  here,  is  omitted,  probably  because  it  was  already  laid  waste, 
i.  <?.,  during  the  reign  of  Uzziah  (2  Chronicles  26 :  6,  7).      This  was 

within  the  personal  knowledge  of  Amos. Their  crowning  sin 

was  that  they  carried  the  entire  body  of  their  captives  to  Edom  and 


116  AMOS.— CHAP.  I. 

sold  them  for  slaves.  The  phrase,  "the  whole  captivity,"  affirms 
nothing  in  respect  to  the  number,  as  being  great  or  small ;  it  means 
all  they  had.  Edom,  further  advanced  in  wealth  and  the  arts  than 
most  of  the  nations  adjacent  to  Palestine,  seems  to  have  been  a  no- 
torious slave  mart.  The  Lord  accounted  it  the  damning  sin  of  the 
Philistines,  that  they  sent  thither  all  their  prisoners  of  war  and  sold 
them  into  slavery !  Who,  after  this  testimony,  can  deny  that  God 
abhors  slavery,  and  will  preeminently  scourge  and  destroy  the  na- 
tion that  makes  itself  preeminent  for  the  enslaving  of  men? The 

"fire  sent  on  the  wall  of  Gaza1'  is  the  desolation  of  war,  visited  on 
them  by  Ozziah,  as  above  noted,  and  by  Hezekiah  (see  2  Kings  18:8), 

and  later  by  various  Eastern  conquerors. "  The  inhabitant "  must 

be  understood  here  as  in  v.  5.  See  a  striking  prophecy  of  the  final 
fall  of  the  Philistines,  in  Jer.  47. 

9.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  For  three  transgressions  of 
Tyrus,  and  for  four,  I  will  not  turn  away  the  punishment 
thereof;  because  they  delivered  up  the  whole  captivity 
to  Edom,  and  remembered  not  the  brotherly  covenant : 

10.  But  I  will  send  a  fire  on  the  wall  of  Tyrus, 
which  shall  devour  the  palaces  thereof. 

Tyre,  the  city  renowned  for  its  commerce  and  wealth,  on  the 
Mediterranean  and  very  near  the  northwest  corner  of  the  land  of 
Canaan,  had  sinned,  in  common  with  the  Philistines,  by  send- 
ing the  entire  body  of  their  captives  of  war  to  Edom  for  slaves 
— a  sin  in  their  case  aggravated  by  the  friendly  and  even  covenant 
relation  existing  of  old  between  them  and  the  ancient  kingdom  of 
Israel.  This  was  indeed  a  "  brotherly  covenant,"  binding  each  party 
to  mutual  friendship  and  protection.  It  commenced  between 
Hiram,  King  of  Tyre,  and  David ;  the  former  making  the  first  ad- 
vances. (2  Sam.  5  :  11),  "Hiram,  King  of  Tyre,  sent  messengers 
to  David,  and  cedar-trees,"  &c.  It  was  ratified  again  between  the 
same  Hiram  and  Solomon  (1  Kings,  5:  12),  "Hiram  sent  his  ser- 
vants to  Solomon  [for  Hiram  was  ever  a  lover  of  David],  and 
they  two  made  a  league  together." It  is  obvious  that  the  cap- 
tives, which  Tyre  sent  en  masse  to  Edom,  were  Hebrews,  else  the 
Lord  could  not  have  deemed  it  a  breach  of  that  "  brotherly  cove- 
nant."  Tyre  suffered  fearfully  from  the  arms  of  both  Nebuchad- 
nezzar and  Alexander  the  Great.  They  were  the  fire  of  Jehovah's 
vengeance  upon  her,  specially  for  her  sin  of  selling  all  her  captives 
into  the  horrible  slave  marts  of  Edom. 

11.  Thus  saith  the  Lord;  For  three  transgressions 
of  Edom,  and  for  four,  I  will  not  turn  away  the  punish- 
ment thereof:  because  he  did  pursue  his  brother  with 
the  sword,  and  did  cast  off  all  pity,  and  his  anger  did 
tear  perpetually,  and  he  kept  his  wrath  for  ever: 


AMOS.— CHAP.  I.  117 

12.  But  I  will  send  a  fire  upon  Teman,  which  shall 
devour  the  palaces  of  Bozrah. 

Edom  himself  comes  next — an  ancient  kingdom  southeast  from 
Palestine,  strong  in  arms,  and  very  considerably  advanced  in  culture 
at  the  time  when  Israel,  forbidden  by  him  to  travel  through  his  ter- 
ritory, journeyed  round  it  to  reach  the  Jordan  and  pass  into  Canaan, 
b.  c.  1451.  His  crowning  sin  lay  in  his  animosity  against  his 
brother  Jacob.  Intensely  jealous  of  the  greatness  of  the  Hebrew 
nation,  Edom  had  almost  never  neglected  any  opportunity  to 
let  loose  his  wrath  upon  them.  As  stated  here,  he  had  "pursued 
his  brother  with  the  sword,"  and  had  "  cast  off  all  pity."  The  original 
more  precisely  says  he  "corrupted"  in  the  sense  of  suppressing 
and  smothering  the  natural  dictates  of  sympathy  and  compassion. 
"His  anger  did  tear  " — the  common  word  used  when  savage  beasts 
of  prey  tear  in  pieces  their  victims,  and  he  "kept  his  wrath 
forever,"  not  suffering  even  the  lapse  of  time  to  abate  its  ferocity. 
Teman  and  Bozrah  were  principal  cities  in  Edom,  and  here  rep- 
resent the  nation. 

13.  Thus  saith  the  Loud  ;  For  three  transgressions  of 
the  children  of  Amnion,  and  for  four,  I  will  not  turn 
away  the  punishment  thereof:  because  they  have  ripped 
up  the  women  with  child,  of  Gilead,  that  they  might 
enlarge  their  border : 

14.  But  I  will  kindle  a  fire  in  the  wall  of  Babbah, 
and  it  shall  devour  the  palaces  thereof,  with  shouting 
in  the  day  of  battle,  with  a  tempest  in  the  clay  of 
the  whirlwind : 

15.  And  their  king  shall  go  into  captivity,  he  and 
his  princes  together,  saith  the  Lord. 

Ammon  and  Moab,  nations  taking  their  name  and  descent  from 
the  two  sons  of  Lot,  were  ancient  kingdoms  on  the  east  of  Jordan, 
and  of  course  contiguous  to  the  country  of  the  two  and  a  half 

tribes  here  called  Gilead. The  last  and  fatal  sin  of  Ammon  was 

their  horrid  cruelty  upon  the  pregnant  mothers  of  Gilead,  as  if  it  were 
their  purpose  to  exterminate  not  only  the  living  population,  but  the 
unborn  no  less.  God  holds  nations  solemnly  responsible  for  the  sin 
of  cruelty.     It  was  an  insignificant  apology  for  such  cruelty  that 

they  wanted  more  territory. The  indignation  of  the  Lord  against 

them  for  such  cruelty  stands  out  in  the  grouping  of  fire,  the  war- 
cry  of  battle,  the  tempest  and  whirlwind,  among  the  figures  that 
set  forth  the  vengeance  due  and  about  to  fall  on  Ammon.  Oh,  how 
sublimely  grand  is  such  vengeance  on  a  nation  guilty  of  such  horrid 

Bin  t Let  us  not  fail  to  note  the  solemn  lesson,  which  all  people 

of  every  age  should  learn  from  this  recital  of  Jehovah's  judgments 
*  on  nations  for  violating  the  plain  dictates  of  common  justice  and 


118.  AMOS.— CHAP.  II. 

humanity  in  their  treatment  of  each  other. And  let  us  revert 

again  to  the  fact  that  most  of  these  last  and  damning  sins  were 
committed  against  the  Hebrews,  a  secondary  object  with  Amos 
being  to  draw  out  their  verdict  against  these  sins  as  perpetrated  by 
their  enemies,  and  bring  them  to  admit  and  endorse  the  principles 
of  God's  administration  as  infinitely  right  and  just,  before  he  shall 
come  to  say,  "Thus  saith  the  Lord;  For  three  transgressions  of 
Judah  and  of  Israel,  and  for  four,  I  will  not  reverse  it."  There 
was  no  difficulty  in  getting  them  to  condemn  with  burning  indigna- 
tion the  sins  under  which  themselves  had  suffered.  This  done,  it 
only  remained  to  add,  Thus  saith  the  Lord ;  thou  art  the  man ! 
Condemning  others,  thou  hast  confessed  thine  own  desert  and  fore- 
shadowed thine  own  doom ! 


CHAPTER    II. 

This  chapter  continues  the  unfinished  series  of  kingdoms  doomed 
for  their  national  sins — Moab,  the  last  outside  of  the  chosen  people ; 
then  Judah  and  Israel.  Israel  once  reached,  becomes  the  subject 
of  rebuke,  expostulation,  and  threatened  doom  throughout  this 
chapter  and  the  four  next  following. 

1.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  For  three  transgressions  of 
Moab,  and  for  four,  I  will  not  turn  away  the  punishment 
thereof,  because  he  burned  the  bones  of  the  king  of 
Edom  into  lime : 

2.  But  I  will  send  a  fire  upon  Moab,  and  it  shall  de- 
vour the  palaces  of  Kirioth:  and  Moab  shall  die  with 
tumult,  with  shouting,  and  with  the  sound  of  the 
trumpet : 

3.  And  I  will  cut  off  the  judge  from  the  midst 
thereof,  and  will  slay  all  the  princes  thereof  with  him, 
saith  the  Loud. 

Moab  closes  the  list  of  Gentile  nations.  In  his  crime — burning 
the  bones  of  the  king  of  Edom  into  lime — his  vindictive  spirit  fol- 
lowed his  enemy  even  beyond  death,  into  the  grave.  It  may  be 
supposed  that  he  came  into  possession  of  the  body  of  his  old  enemy 
by  some  of  the  vicissitudes  of  war.  Of  the  fact  we  have  no  history. 
But  this  horribly  vindictive  spirit,  and  this  savage  act,  called  forth 
the  special  curse  of  the  Lord. 

4.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  For  three  transgressions  of 
Judah,  and  for  four,  I  will  not  turn  away  the  punish- 
ment thereof:  because  they  have  despised  the  law  of  the 


AMOS.— CHAP.  II.  119 

Lord,  and  have  not  kept  his  commandments,  and  their 
lies  caused  them  to  err,  after  the  which  their  fathers 
have  walked : 

5.  But  I  will  send  a  fire  upon  Judah,  and  it  shall 
devour  the  palace's  of  Jerusalem. 

The  crying  sin  of  Judah,  corresponding  to  the  enslaving  of  their 
captives  by  Gaza  and  Tyre,  to  the  barbarities  of  Damascus  and  of 
Amnion,  and  to  the  perpetual  resentments  of  Edom,  lay  in  her  dis- 
owning God,  spurning  his  authority,  and  turning  her  heart  to  idols. 
The  " law  of  the  Lord "  is  the  moral  law;  " the  commandments " 
are  specially  the  statutes,  religious  and  civil;  while  their  "lies  which 
had  led  them  astray,"  were  their  idol  gods.  Those  were  lies  in  the 
most  emphatic  sense — lies  in  act,  every  idol  god  being  a  lie  acted 
out,  a  living  falsehood,  representing  nothing  true  and  real,  but  only 
a  delusion ;  or,  in  the  shortest,  best  phrase,  a  lie.  This  crime  of 
Judah  was  all  the  greater  because  it  was  committed  against  so 
much  light.  "  To  him  that  knoweth  to  do  good  and  doeth  it  not,  to 
him  it  is  sin  "  (James  4  :  17).  "  If  I  had  not  come  and  spoken  to 
them" — so  said  Christ  of  the  Jews — "they  had  not  had  sin;  but 
now  they  have  no  cloak  for  their  sin  "  (John  15 :  22).  Judah  had 
no  doubt  sinned  in  other  ways ;  doubtless  she  had  been  cruel 
toward  other  nations,  oppressive  toward  her  own  poor,  but  none  of 
these  sins  were  to  be  named  in  comparison  with  this  mother  sin, 
this  crowning  sin  of  all — her  reproach  and  dishonor  cast  upon  God 
in  rejecting  his  authority,  renouncing  his  worship,  and  giving  her 

heart  publicly  to  lying  vanities. This  passage  reads  to  us  the 

guilt  and  the  doom  of  thousands  of  ungodly  men  in  Christian  lands. 
They  know  God  and  his  gospel  but  too  well — too  well  to  have  their 
sin  and  damnation  measured  by  even  the  savage  barbarities  of 
heathen  nations.  Of  the  city  where  Christ  wrought  many  mira- 
cles he  said,  "  It  shall  be  more  tolerable  in  the  day  of  judgment  for 

Sodom  than  for  thee"  (Matt.  11:24). The  Chaldean  was  the 

first  terrible  executioner  of  this  threatened  doom.  (See  2  Chron. 
36  :  19  ;  Jer.  52  :  13 ;  Lam.  2  : 1-10.) 

6.  Thus  saith  the  Loed  ;  For  three  transgressions  of 
Israel,  and  for  four,  I  will  not  turn  away  the  punish- 
ment  thereof:  because  they  sold  the  righteous  for  silver, 
and  the  poor  for  a  pair  of  shoes ; 

7.  That  pant  after  the  dust  of  the  earth  on  the  head 
of  the  poor,  and  turn  aside  the  way  of  the  meek :  and 
a  man  and  his  father  will  go  in  unto  the  same  maid,  to 
profane  my  holy  name : 

8.  And  they  lay  themselves  down  upon  clothes  laid 
to  pledge  by  every  altar,  and  they  drink  the  wine  of  the 
condemned  in  the  house  of  their  god. 


120  AMOS.— CHAP.  II. 

Last  of  all  is  Israel,  the  northern  kingdom,  to  whom  especially 
the  prophet  Amos  was  sent.  It  is  remarkable  that  their  chief  sins, 
as  here  developed,  lay  in  the  line  of  immoralities  against  their  fel- 
low-men: the  violation  of  natural  rights,  the  oppression  of  the 
poor,  and  dishonoring  the  law  of  chastity.  This  book  of  Amos 
discloses  startling  facts  in  respect  to  the  luxury  of  the  wealthy,  and 
their  oppression  of  the  poor.  Note  the  particulars  given  here. 
"  They  sold  the  righteous  for  silver ;  "  good  men,  bearing  God's 
image,  and  beloved  of  him  for  their  moral  integrity,  they  sold  for 
paltry  silver!  Ought  not  the  righteous  Father  of  all  to  abhor  this 
crime,  and  hurl  his  bolts  of  vengeance  on  the  heads  of  such  crim- 
inals?  They  "sold  the  poor  for  a  pair  of  shoes,"  so  cheap  did 

they  hold  personal  liberty  and  the  rights  of  manhood !  These 
"shoes1'  were  only  sandals,  nothing  but  soles  of  leather  or  wood, 

fastened  to  the  foot  with  straps ;  of  course  very  cheap. "  That 

pant  after  the  dust  of  the  earth  on  the  head  of  the  poor :  "  so  grasp- 
ing, so  avaricious,  so  bent  on  extorting  every  thing  the  poor  man 
had,  if  they  saw  a  particle  of  dust  settled  upon  his  hatless  head, 
they  are  represented  as  panting  after  it,  as  if  they  could  have  no 
rest  till  they  had  got  it  by  extortion  or  by  violence !  A  pretty 
strong  figure  truly — but  human  depravity  sometimes  comes  fully  up 
to  the  sense  of  it !  Avarice  not  unfrequently  becomes  the  ruling 
master  passion  of  a  man's  soul,  and  then  no  sin  is  more  likely  to 
take  on  a  development  perfectly  monstrous.     It  behooves  men  of 

avaricious  tendencies  to  beware! Some  interpreters  suppose  the 

case  thought  of  here  is  that  of  a  poor  man,  robbed  of  all,  throwing 
dust  on  his  head  in  his  grief  over  his  loss,  while  his  rapacious  op- 
pressor grudges  him  even  this  poor  dust ! To  "  turn  aside  the 

way  of  the  meek  "  is  to  subvert  justice  in  their  case,  and  bar  them 

from  redress  for  their  wrongs  through  the  courts  of  law. The 

case  of  a  man,  his  father,  and  the  same  maid,  refers  probably  to  the 
public  prostitutes  kept  in  the  idol  temples,  such  abominations  being- 
part  of  that  system  of  unutterable  pollution.  The  prophet  says 
this  was  done  to  profane  God's  holy  name,  as  if  it  were  their  set 
purpose  to  dishonor  God  and  trample  under  their  feet  his  blessed 

law  of  chastity. Retaining  over  night  the  garments  of  the  poor 

taken  in  pledge,  was  very  expressly  forbidden,  Ex.  22  :  2G,  27:-  "If 
thou  at  all  take  thy  neighbor's  raiment  to  pledge,  thou  shalt  deliver 
it  to  him  by  that  the  sun  goeth  down,  for  it  is  his  covering  only ; 
it  is  his  raiment  for  his  skin.  "Wherein  shall  he  sleep  ?  And  it 
shall  come  to  pass  when  he  crieth  unto  me,  that  I  will  hear,  for  I 
am  gracious."  The  poor  in  those  countries  had  no  bed-covering 
other  than  their  outer  garments.  The  Lord  would  not  let  the  grip 
of  avarice  deprive  the  poor  of  their  bed-covering.  But  these  de- 
generate Israelites,  instead  of  returning  this  bed-covering  for  the 
owner  to  sleep  under,  "  laid  themselves  down  upon  clothes  laid  to 
pledge"  (  i.  c,  as  security  for  debts),  and  this  "by  every  altar"  in 
the  very  presence  of  their  gods,  and  in  their  places  of  religious 
worship.     Plainly  their  religion  bore  no  testimony  against  out- 


AMOS.— CHAP.   II.  121 

rageous  inhumanity.  Any  form  of  religion  is  practically  rotten  which 
bears  no  testimony  or  protest  against  hard-hearted  cruelty  to  man. 
There  is  never  a  stronger  proof  of  religions  corruption  than  a  cool 
and  heartless  mixing  up  of  professed  worship  of  God  with  remorse- 
less crime  toward  man. "  To  drink  the  wine  of  the  condemned 

in  the  house  of  their  God,"  is  another  sin  of  the  same  sort.  Lit- 
erally rendered,  it  is  the  wine  of  the  amerced  or  taxed — the  wine 
they  had  assessed  upon  their  tenants  or  other  poor,  and  by  fraud 
or  force  compelled  them  unjustly  to  pay.  This  they  have  the  im- 
piety to  drink  "  in  the  house  of  their  god,"  their  religion  having 
no  testimony  to  bear  to  the  conscience  against  crime  toward  fellow- 
men. 

9.  Yet  destroyed  I  the  Amorite  before  them,  whose 
height  was  like  the  height  of  the  cedars,  and  he  was 
strong  as  the  oaks  ;  yet  I  destroyed  his  fruit  from  above, 
and  his  roots  from  beneath. 

Here  the  prophet  turns  to  speak  in  the  next  three  verses  of 
what  God  had  wrought  for  his  people,  that  in  the  light  of  these 
great  works  of  mercy  they  may  see  their  more  aggravated  guilt. 
The  Amorites,  living  of  old  on  both  sides  of  the  Jordan,  rep- 
resent the  nations  of  Canaan.  Physically,  they  were  a  gigantic 
race,  and  being  proficient  in  the  arts  of  war,  they  were  exceedingly 
strong.  So  they  appeared  to  the  twelve  spies  whom  Moses  sent  up 
from  the  wilderness  of  Paran.  They  reported :  a  The  people  be 
strong  that  dwell  in  the  land,  and  the  cities  are  walled  and  very 
great,  and  moreover  we  saw  the  children  of  Anak  there."  "All 
the  people  that  we  saw  in  it  are  men  of  great  stature ;  there  we 
saw  the  giants ;  and  we  were  in  our  own  sight  as  grasshoppers, 
and  so  we  were  in  their  sight  "  (Num.  13  :  28,  32,  33). The  his- 
tory shows  that  God's  interposition  to  drive  out  this  powerful 
race  before  Israel,  then  altogether  unused  to  war,  was  special. 
He  promised  early  (Ex.  23  :  27-29),  "I  will  send  my  fear  before 
thee,  and  will  destroy  all  the  people  unto  whom  thou  shalt  come.  .  . 
I  will  send  hornets  before  thee  who  shall  drive  out  the  Canaan ites," 
&c.  See  also  Deut.  7:  20,  and  Josh.  24: 12.  This  hornet  (so  ren- 
dered) seems  to  have  been  some  form  of  scourge,  perhaps  a  pesti- 
lence, as  Hab.  3 :  5  would  naturally  imply.  It  was  at  least  God's 
hand,  manifested  either  in  some  physical  scourge,  or  in  mental  panic, 
or  in  both,  and  designed  to  palsy  then*  power  and  make  them  an 
easy  conquest  to  God's  chosen  people.  This  Amos  beautifully  sets 
forth:  "The  Amorite,  though  in  his  early  prowess  as  the  height 
of  the  cedars  and  the  strength  of  the  oaks,  yet  God's  hand  destroyed 
his  fruit  above  and  his  roots  beneath." 

10.  Also  I  brought  you  up  from  the  land  of  Egypt, 
and  led  you  forty  years  through  the  wilderness,  to  possess 
the  land  of  the  Ajnorite. 

6 


122  AMOS.— CHAP.  II. 

The  scenes  of  the  Exodus  and  of  those  forty  years  in  the  wilder- 
ness were  full  of  divine  care  and  love.  Every  day  had  its  miracles 
of  mercy. 

11.  And  I  raised  up  of  your  sons  for  prophets,  and  of 
your  young  men  for  N  azarites.  Is  it  not  even  thus,  O 
ye  children  of  Israel  ?  saith  the  Lord. 

The  order  of  prophets  seems  not  to  have  been  specially  provided 
for  in  the  Mosaic  institutes,  but  sprang  up  under  the  law  of  demand 
— the  exigencies  of  later  times.  For  the  order  of  JSTazarites,  how- 
ever, special  provision  was  made.  (See  Num.  6.)  The  persons  com- 
posing this  order  were  often  set  apart  from  their  birth,  e.  g.,  Sam- 
son and  Samuel.  They  were  to  abstain  sacredly  and  specially  from 
wine  and  from  every  thing  else  that  could  intoxicate,  standing  as 
living  witnesses  to  the  value  of  temperance  and  a  perpetual  protest 

against  self-indulgence. It  was  truly  a  favor  to  the  people  that 

the  Lord  took  his  prophets  and  Nazarites  from  their  own  sons. 
We  can  suppose  the  case  that  the  men  for  these  orders  should  have 
been  called  in  from  other  nations.  This  supposition  would  show 
at  a  glance  how  much  better  the  social  and  general  influence  must 

be  to  take  them  from  Hebrew  families. Our  translators  and 

many  commentators  interpret  the  question  at  the  close  of  the  verse 
as  the  Lord's  appeal  to  Israel  to  admit  the  fact  that  he  had  taken 
his  prophets  and  Kazarites  from  among  them.  In  my  view,  such 
an  appeal  can  scarcely  be  deemed  necessary,  and  is  therefore  very 
improbable.  I  prefer  to  read,  "  And  is  there  nothing  of  this,  O  ye 
children  of  Israel  ?  "  Is  this  a  thing  of  no  account  ? — implying  that 
it  is  a  matter  of  great  account. 

12.  But  ye  gave  the  Nazarites  wine  to  drink ;  and 
commanded  the  prophets,  saying,  Prophesy  not. 

This  tact  evinces  the  daring  impiety  of  the  people.  They  sought 
to  frustrate  the  benevolent  aims  of  God  in  establishing  both  these 
classes  of  reformers.  "Ye  gave  the  Nazarites  wine  to  drink" — 
seducing  them  into  the  violation  of  their  vows,  and  thus  paralyzing 
their  influence.  "  Ye  forbid  the  prophets  to  prophesy."  In  some 
cases,  they  persecuted,  imprisoned,  and  murdered  God's  prophets, 

to  suppress  their  testimony. Such  a  people  must  be  fast  filling  up 

the  measure  of  their  iniquities. 

13.  Behold,  I  am  pressed  under  you,  as  a  cart  is 
pressed  that  is  full  of  sheaves. 

14.  Therefore  the  flight  shall  perish  from  the  swift, 
and  the  strong  shall  not  strengthen  his  force,  neither 
shall  the  mighty  deliver  himself: 

15.  Neither  shall  he  stand  that  handleth  the  bow ; 
and  lie  that  is  swift  of  foot  shall  not  deliver  himself : 
neither  shall  he  that  rideth  the  horse  deliver  himself. 


amos.— en AP.  in.  123 

16.  And  he  that  is  courageous  among  the  mighty 
shall  flee  away  naked  in  that  day,  saith  the  Lord. 

Here  the  prophet  announces  divine  judgments  for  these  sins  of 

the  people. The  received  version — "  I  am  pressed  under  you," 

&e.,  represents  the  Lord  as  the  cart  pressed  by  its  burden  of  sheaves 
— with  reference  to  the  demand  made  upon  him  for  vengeance — 
which  demand  his  justice  could  not  resist,  nor  could  his  mercy- 
yield  to  it  without  strong  pressure  and  keen  anguish.  This  senti- 
ment may  he  very  true,  but  it  is  probably  not  the  truth  taught  here. 
The  passage  should  rather  be  read — "  Behold,  I  am  pressing  you 
down  as  a  cart  full  of  sheaves  presseth  down,"  i.  c,  whatever  it 
passes  over.  The  points  in  favor  of  this  construction  are  (1.)  That 
the  verbs  are  not  passive — "  I  am  pressed,"  &c,  but  are  strongly 
active,  and  even  causative — "I  am  pressing  you  down  " — causing 
you  to  be  pressed  down.  (2.)  That  the  word  "Behold,"  more 
naturally  calls  attention  to  the  punishment  God  will  inflict  than  to 
the  state  of  his  feelings  in  view  of  the  necessity  of  inflicting  it. 
(3.)  And  it  makes  the  logic  of  the  following  verse  far  more  forcible  : 
— a  people  so  pressed  down  as  with  a  loaded  cart  upon  them  must 
lose  all  power  of  flight,  even  the  swiftest  of  them ;  the  strong  could 
.have  no  force  available  under  such  a  weight,  &c.  This  logical  con- 
nection of  thought,  expressed  by  "  therefore  "  (v.  14),  is  more  than 
lost  by  the  rendering  which  assumes  that  the  weight  and  burden 
of  this  pressure  come  down  upon  God  rather  than  upon  his  sinning 

people. The  idea  that  none  can  escape  is  reiterated  with  great 

force.  The  bowmen  shall  not  stand  ;  the  swift-footed  shall  not  save 
even  himself,  nor  he  who  has  a  fleet  horse  at  command ;  and  finally, 
he  who  unites  the  utmost  courage  and  the  utmost  strength  shall 

only  escape  (if  at  all)  naked,  saving  nothing  but  his  person. The 

reader  will  readily  notice  that  the  figure  belongs  to  husbandry,  and 
is  such  as  we  might  look  for  in  one  who  was  from  boyhood  "  among 
the  herdmen  of  Tekoa." 


CHAPTER    III. 

This  chapter  continues  the  same  strain,  exposing  the  sins  of  the 
people,  showing  that  the  Almighty  awakes  to  judgment  against 
them,  and  calls  his  prophet  to  reveal  the  fearful  truth.  Foreign 
nations  are  summoned  to  witness  the  sins  of  Samaria,  and  again  her 
doom  is  announced. 

1,  Hear  this  word  that  the  Lord  hath  spoken  against 
yon,  O  children  of  Israel,  against  the  whole  family  which 
I  brought  up  from  the  land  of  Egypt,  saying, 

2.  Yon  only  have  I  known  of  all  the  families  of  the 
earth :  therefore  I  will  punish  you  for  all  your  iniquities. 


124  AMOS.— chap.  m. 

It  was  the  peculiar  aggravation  of  the  sins  of  Israel  that  God 
had  Mown  them  as  his  own,  and  had  blessed  them  only  among  all 
the  nations,  with  abundant  revelations  of  his  will ;  and  that,  not- 
withstanding all,  they  had  persistently  rebelled  against  him.  There- 
fore, he  would  surely  punish  them  for  all  their  iniquities.  The  sins 
of  other  nations  God  might  wink  at  and  pass  over  with  comparatively 
little  notice ;  the  sins  of  Israel  could  not  be  passed  over  ! 

3.  Can  two  walk  together,  except  they  be  agreed  ? 

4.  Will  a  lion  roar  in  the  forest  when  he  hath  no 
prey  %  will  a  yonng  lion  cry  out  of  his  den,  if  he  have 
taken  nothing  ? 

5.  Can  a  bird  fall  in  a  snare  npon  the  earth,  where 
no  gin  is  for  him  %  shall  one  take  up  a  snare  from  the 
earth,  and  have  taken  nothing  at  all  ? 

6.  Shall  a  trumpet  be  blown  in  the  city,  and  the 
people  not  be  afraid  ?  shall  there  be  evil  in  a  city,  and 
the  Loud  hath  not  done  it  f 

These  spirited  interrogatives  imply  that  God  can  go  on  no 
longer  with  his  covenant  people ;  that  the  hour  of  his  desolating 
judgments  hastens  on  ;  that  for  these  judgments  there  is  abundant 
cause  in  their  sins ;  and  that  the  Lord  has  summoned  his  prophet  to 

become  his  oracle  of  solemn  warning  to  the  guilty  people. More 

particularly,  I  paraphrase  thus :  Can  God  and  Israel  walk  together 
unless  agreed  in  sympathy  of  purpose  and  character,  as  they  are 
not  now  ?— "Will  the  Lord  roar  out  of  Zion  in  premonitory  fore- 
shadowings  of  coming  vengeance,  when  there  is  no  prey  to  fall 

upon? Can  the  people  fall  under  war  and  captivity  where  no 

war  is,  and  no  captivity,  and  there  is  no  wrath  of  God  to  fear  ? 

Are  these  threatened  judgments  really  nothing? Are  not  people 

wont  to  be  afraid  when  they  hear  the  clarion  blast  of  war?  And 
shall  they  not  fear  as  much  now,  before  the  awful  blast  of  Jehovah's 
trumpet,  calling  out  the  nations  to  bring  war  on  his  land?  Shall 
we  not  recognize  God's  agency  as  including  and  working  all  the 

inflictions  of  calamity  that  fall  on  guilty  cities ? This  "evil  in 

the  city  "  which  v.  0  assumes  that  the  Lord  has  done,  must  be 
natural,  not  moral — calamity,  not  sin.  The  original  Hebrew  is  used 
frequently  for  natural  evil,  e,  g.,  Gen.  19  :  19:  "Lest  some  evil  take 
me  and  I  die;"  and  Gen.  44:34:  "Lest  peradventure  I  see  the 

evil  that  shall  come  on  my  father  ;"  also  Ex.  32  :  14. Besides, 

the  strain  of  the  whole  passage  is  of  natural  evil — the  judgments 
about  to  come  from  God  on  apostate  and  guilty  Israel.  To  construe 
this  evil,  therefore,  as  being  sin,  and  not  calamity,  is  to  ignore  the 
whole  current  of  thought,  and  to  outrage  the  soundest,  most  vital 
laws  of  interpretation.  Moreover,  common  justice  toward  God 
forbids  this  construction — "  Shall  there  be  sin  in  the  city,  and  the 
Lord  hath  not  done  it  ?  "  This  would  assume  that  God  is  the  doer 
of  all  the  sin  in  our  world  ! 


AMOS.— CHAR  III.  125 

7.  Surely  the  Lord  God  will  do  nothing,  but  he 
reveaieth  his  secret  unto  his  servants  the  prophets. 

8.  The  lion  hath  roared,  who  will  not  fear  '?  the  Lord 
God  hath  spoken,  who  can  but  prophesy  % 

The  Lord  is  wont  to  forewarn  his  people  by  his  prophets  before 
lie  smites  them  with  desolating  judgments.  This  forewarning  the 
prophet  now  gives,  as  v.  8  implies :  "  The  lion  hath  roared."  God 
has  uttered  his  fearful  note  of  warning  as  one  about  to  smite ;  who 
can  refuse  to  prophesy  when  thus  called  to  it  of  God  ?  The  prophet 
means  to  say  that  in  the  presence  of  such  demonstrations  of  coining 
judgments,  he  should  be  not  only  false  to  God,  but  false  to  his 
countrymen,  if  he  did  not  solemnly  announce  God's  message,  and 
call  them  to  repentance. 

9.  Publish  in  the  palaces  at  Ashdod,  and  in  the 
palaces  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  say,  Assemble  your- 
selves upon  the  mountains  of  Samaria,  and  behold  the 
great  tumults  in  the  midst  thereof,  and  the  oppressed  in 
the  midst  thereof. 

This  is  a  call  to  the  people  of  Ashdod  and  Egypt,  and,  by 
implication,  to  all  the  nations  named  and  doomed  in  the  first  two 
chapters,  to  convene  upon  the  mountains  that  overlook  Samaria, 
and  be  witnesses  to  her  great  tumults,  disorders,  and  crimes,  and  to 
the  oppressions  done  in  the  midst  of  her.  Guilty  as  those  nations 
are,  they  will  see  deeper  guilt  and  more  outrageous  crime  in  Sama- 
ria. They  are  to  be  witnesses  of  her  doom :  let  them  first  witness 
her  sins. The  word  "oppressed"  in  the  text,  should  be  "op- 
pressions," as  in  the  margin. 

10.  For  they  know  not  to  do  right,  saith  the  Loed,  who 
store  up  violence  and  robbery  in  their  palaces. 

These  are  the  people  of  Samaria.  Despite  of  all  the  light  of 
nature  and  the  superadded  light  of  divine  revelation,  they  yet  act 
as  if  they  knew  not  how  to  do  right.  The  trouble  is  not  their 
ignorance,  but  their  moral  perverseness.  Knowledge  of  duty  does 
them  no  good:  they  will  go  on  in  sin  as  if  they  had  no  moral  sense 

— no  knowledge  of  right. "  They  store  up  in  their  palaces  "  the 

fruits  of  their  "violence  and  robbery" — the  cause,  violence,  being 
put  for  the  result— the  property  they  wrest  from  the  poor  and  in- 
nocent.  The  frequent  allusions  to   "palaces"   imply  that  the 

wealthy  classes  lived  in  luxury  on  the  fruits  of  extortion  and  op- 
pression. 

11.  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  God  ;  An  adversary 
there  shall  he  even  round  about  the  land  ;  and  he  shall 
bring  down  thy  strength  from  thee,  and  thy  palaces  shall 
be  spoiled. 


126  AMOS.  -CHAP.  III. 

There  shall  come  an  enemy — one  who  shall  pervade  the  whole 
land.  He  shall  bring  down  thy  strength,  and  shall  spoil  thy  palaces. 

The  Assyrians  were  this  enemy.     The  desolation  they  wrought 

was  complete,  as  the  reader  may  see  in  2  Kings  17. 

12.  Thus  saitli  the  Loed:  As  the  shepherd  taketh 
out  of  the  month  of  the  lion  two  legs,  or  a  piece  of  an 
ear :  so  shall  the  children  of  Israel  lie  taken  out  that 
dwell  in  Samaria  in  the  corner  of  abed,  and  in  Damascus 
in  a  conch. 

This  figure,  altogether  natural  for  a  .shepherd-author,  shows 
that  nothing  but  the  merest  wrecks  and  fragments  of  that  great  and 
wealthy  people  would  remain — only  some  of  the  aged,  bed-ridden, 
or  sick,  overlooked  in  the  general  slaughter  and  deportation  of  cap- 
tives— here  one  in  the  corner  of  a  bed ;  there  another  on  a  couch. 

Some  of  the  people  might  have  fled  to  Damascus  for  refuge ; 

hence  this  reference  to  the  few  left  there.  The  devastation  would 
be  most  terrific  and  complete. 

•  13.  Hear  ye,  and  testify  in  the  house  of  Jacob,  saith 
the  Lord  God,  the  God  of  hosts, 

14.  That,  in  the  day  that  I  shall  visit  the  transgres- 
sions of  Israel  upon  him;  I  will  also  visit  the  altars  of 
Beth-el :  and  the  horns  of  the  altar  shall  he  cut  off,  and 
fall  to  the  ground. 

15.  And  I  will  smite  the  winter-house  with  the  snm- 
mer-house ;  and  the  houses  of  ivory  shall  perish,  and  the 
great  houses  shall  have  an  end,  saith  the  Loud. 

Yet  another  message  indicates  the  point  on  which  especially  the 
judgments  of  the  Almighty  would  fall,  viz.,  on  the  idol  altars  of 
Bethel,  and  on  the  luxurious  palaces  of  rich  oppressors.  God  would 
direct  his  judgments  so  in  the  line  of  the  sins  scourged  as  to  indi- 
cate those  sins.  lie  would  show  that  his  wrath  burned  especially 
against  those  idol  altars,  and  those  palaces  built  with  the  fruits  of 

violence   and  wrong. "The  horns  of  the  altar  ;  "   its  projecting 

points  at  each  of  the  four  corners,  were  highly  ornamented ;  hence 
these  especially  should  be  smitten,  to  rebuke  the  pride  of  the  people. 

"  The  houses  of  ivory  "  were  those  in  which  ivory  was  used 

for  ornament.  Only  the  wealthy  could  have  one  house  for  sum- 
mer and  another  for  winter.  The  curse  of  extermination  fell  on 
Samaria  mainly  because  her  wealth  was  ill-gotten,  and  represented 
her  cruel,  iniquitous  oppression  of  the  poor  and  innocent. 


AMOS.— CHAP.  IV.  127 


OHAPTEE    IV. 


The  prophet  still  addresses  the  proud,  oppressive,  hut  effeminate 
people  of  Samaria,  describing  them  (v.  1) ;  predicting  their  captivity 
(vs.  2,  3) ;  in  irony,  bidding  them  go  on  in  their  sins  (vs.  4,  5) ;  recit- 
ing successive  judgments  from  God — famine,  drought,  blasting,  pes- 
tilence, and  the  overthrow  of  some  of  them  even  as  Sodom — all, 
however,  failing  to  bring  them  back  to  God  (vs.  6-11) ;  therefore  the 
Almighty  bids  "them  prepare  to  meet  him  in  his  desolating  judg- 
ments (vs.  12,  13). 

1.  Hear  this  word,  ye  kine  of  Baslian,  that  are  in  the 
mountain  of  Samaria,  which  oppress  the  poor,  which 
crush  the  needy,  which  say  to  their  masters,  Bring,  and 
let  us  drink. 

2.  The  Lord  God  hath  sworn  by  his  holiness,  that,  lo, 
the  days  shall  come  upon  you,  that  he  will  take  you 
away  with  hooks,  and  your  posterity  with  fish-hooks. 

3.  And  ye  shall  go  out  at  the  breaches,  every  cow  at 
that  which  is  before  her ;  and  ye  shall  cast  them  into  the 
palace,  saith  the  Lord. 

By  the  word  "  kine  "  (the  nearly  obsolete  plural  of  cow)  some  sup- 
pose the.  luxurious  and  corrupt  'women  of  Samaria  are  meant.  It  is 
better  to  apply  it  to  the  same  class  hitherto  spoken  of,  e.  g.,  2 :  G-S, 
11-16,  and  3:  9-15,  i.  e.,  the  wealthy,  proud,  oppressive  rulers  and 
leaders  in  civil  and  social  life,  with  no  special  reference  to  the  fe- 
male sex :  (1.)  Because  the  description  given  of  them  here  identifies 
them  as  the  same;  they  oppress  the  poor,  crush  the  needy,  love 
strong  drink,  &c.  (2.)  Because  these  cows  of  Bashan  are  spoken 
of  in  the  Hebrew,  now  in  the  feminine  and  now  in  the  masculine 
gender,  as  if  the  figure  drew  the  writer  to  the  feminine,  but  the 
fact  to  the  masculine  ;    and  (3.)  Because  he  had  special  reasons  for 

calling  the  men  "  cows  of  Bashan,"  as  we  shall  see. Concerning 

this  figure — Bashan,  a  region  on  the  east  of  Jordan,  was  renowned 
for  its  rich  pastures  and  breeds  of  cattle,  fine,  fat,  and  strong.  (See 
Deut.  32;  14;  Ps.  22:  12  ;  Ezek.  30:  18.)  Especially  the  "bulls  of 
Bashan,"  as  in  David's  reference  (Ps.  22 :  12),  were  fat,  strong,  fear- 
less, ferocious :  "  Strong  bulls  of  Bashan  have  beset  me  round." 
Perhaps  with  a  tacit  but  cutting  allusion  to  them,  Amos  meant  to 
say — "  Ye  cows  (not  bulls)  of  Bashan,  fat  enough  indeed  and  well- 
fed  ;  fierce  and  cruel  enough  toward  your  helpless  poor ;  but 
shamefully  effeminate  and  cowardly  where  real  danger  lies; — hear 
ye  these  words !  The  Lord  is  about  to  put  his  hook  in  your  nose, 
and  take  you  away  to  a  hopeless  captivity.  Ye  shall  be  driven  out 
through  the  breaches  made  in  your  city  walls,  as  a  man  drives  out 
his  cows  through  a  gap  in  their  fence — each  cow  straightforward, 


128  AMOS.— CHAP.   IV. 

i.  e.,  with  no  option  to  turn  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left." This 

is  the  general  course  of  thought  in  the  first  three  verses. Spe- 
cially— (v.  1),  "  in  the  mountain  "  would  be  better  on  the  moun- 
tain, with  the  figure  in  view— cows  of  Bashan,  pasturing  on  the 

mountains  of  Samaria. "  "Who  say  to  their  masters,"  the  king— 

the  plural  being  probably  what  is  called  "pluralis  excellentim," — 
a  plural  form  appropriated  to  one  individual — (here  a  king)  as  a 

distinguished  honor. "  The  Lord  hath  sworn  by  his  holiness  " — 

as  if  declaring  solemnly — If  I  am. holy ;  if  I  abhor  sin  ;  oy  all  my 
abhorrence  of  such  outrages  upon  the  innocent — ye  shall  be  swept 

from  your  land! "  Taking  them  away  with  fish-hooks,"  should 

not  lead  our  thought  to  fishing  for  small  game,  but  to  the  harpoon- 
ing of  sea-monsters,  or  rather,  to  the  hook  in  the  jaws  of  leviathan, 
or  in  the  nose  of  fierce  bullocks,  as  where  the  Lord  said  of  the  As- 
syrian king  (Isa.  37 :  29),  "I  will  put  my  hook  in  thy  nose  and 
turn  thee  back  by  the  way  by  which  thou  earnest ;  "  or  of  Pharaoh 
(Ezek.  29  :  4),  "  I  will  put  hooks  in  thy  jaws,"  &c,  "  and  will  bring 
thee  up  out  of  the  midst  of  thy  rivers  ;  "  or  (Job.  41 :  1,  2),  "  Canst 
thou  draw  out  leviathan  with  a  hook  ? "     Thou  canst  not ;  but  God 

can! In  v.  3,  the  clause — "  Ye  shall  cast  them  into  the  palace " 

— should  rather  be  read — "  They  " — the  cows,  alias  the  rich, 
proud  oppressors  of  Samaria — "  shall  be  cast  out  of  the  palace," 
driven  rudely  from  the  ivory  mansions,  made  so  splendid  by  the 

fruits  of  robbery  and  wrong. Thus  the  entire  passage  is  keenly 

ironical  and  stinging. 

4.  Come  to  Beth-el  and  transgress  :  at  Gilgal  multi- 
ply transgression  ;  and  bring  your  sacrifices  every  morn- 
ing, and  your  titlies  after  three  years : 

5.  And  offer  a  sacrifice  of  thanksgiving  with  leaven, 
and  proclaim  and  publish  the  free  offerings:  for  this 
liketh  you,  O  ye  children  of  Israel,  saith  the  Lord  God. 

These  verses  continue  and  even  intensify  the  strain  of  irony. 
"Come  to  Bethel,  and  sin  on,  since  so  you  like;  try  it,  if  you  will!  " 

Bethel  and  Gilgal  were  places  noted  for  idol  worship. Tlie 

Mosaic  law  required  a  sacrifice  each  morning ;  tithes  for  the  poor 
at  the  end  of  each  third  year  (Dcut.  14:  28,  29,  and  26  :  12),  thank- 
offerings,  and  free-will  offerings  also ; — but  the  people  of  Samaria 
mixed  up  these  required  ritual  services  with  horrible  idolatry  and 
not  less  horrid  immoralities — oppression,  slavery,  outrages  on  all  the 
rights  of  the  poor  and  the  weak.     Hence  God  abhorred  them  none 

the  less  for  their  religious  rites. "  This  liketh  you" — means  in 

the  original,  this  you  like  or  love. 

6.  And  I  also  have  given  you  cleanness  of  teeth  in 
all  your  cities,  and  want  of  bread  in  all  your  places  :  yet 
have  ye  not  returned  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord. 

7.  And  also  I  have  withliolden  the  rain  from  you, 


AMOS.— CHAP.  IV.  129 

when  there  were  yet  three  months  to  the  harvest :  and  1 
caused  it  to  rain  npon  one  city,  and  caused  it  not  to  rain 
upon  another  city  :  one  piece  was  rained  upon,  and  the 
piece  whereupon  it  rained  not  withered. 

8.  So  two  or  three  cities  wandered  unto  one  city,  to 
drink  water  ;  but  they  were  not  satisfied :  yet  have  ye 
not  returned  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord. 

9.  I  have  smitten  you  with  blasting  and  mildew : 
when  your  gardens  and  your  vineyards  and  your  fig- 
trees  and  your  olive-trees  increased,  the  palmer-worm 
devoured  them :  yet  have  ye  not  returned  unto  me,  saith 
the  Lord. 

10.  I  have  sent  among  you  the  pestilence  after  the 
manner  of  Egypt :  your  young  men  have  I  slain  with 
the  sword,  and  have  taken  away  your  horses ;  and  I 
have  made  the  stink  of  your  camps  to  come  up  unto 
your  nostrils :  yet  have  ye  not  returned  unto  me,  saith 
the  Lord. 

Here  is  a  series  of  milder  chastisements  which  the  Lord  had 
tried  upon  the  people,  hut  all  in  vain.  The  statement  of  each  form 
of  infliction  closes  with  the  same  sad  result — "Yet  have  ye  not  re- 
turned unto  me,  saith  the  Lord."  They  are  enumerated  in  this 
way  to  show  the  people  how  long,  how  patiently,  how  sincerely, 
and  with  what  varied  appliances  the  Lord  had  labored  to  reclaim 
them,  that  they  might  themselves  see  the  necessity  laid  on  him  to 

proceed  to  measures  far  more  stern  and  fearful. "  Cleanness  of 

teeth  "  is  identical  with  want  of  bread,  famine.  He  had  withheld 
rain,  long  before  the  maturing  of  the  harvests,  so  that  the  harvest 
must  have  utterly  failed.— : — The  middle  clause  of  v.  9  might  be  read  : 
"  The  multitude  of  your  gardens  and  of  your  vineyards,  also  your 

fig-trees  and    olive-trees,  the  locust   hath    devoured." V.   10 

seems  to  imply  that  when  the  young  men  were  slain  by  the  sword, 
their  horses,  left  riderless,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy  and  were 

taken  captive — fit  retribution  for  their  vain  trust  in  horses. A 

great  slaughter  had  left  many  bodies  unburied,  to  aggravate  the 
pestilence ;  but  even  this  fearful  scourge  did  not  bring  them  back  to 
God. 

11.  I  have  overthrown  some  of  you,  as  God  over- 
threw Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  and  ye  were  as  a  fire-brand 
plucked  out  of  the  burning :  yet  have  ye  not  returned 
unto  me,  saith  the  Lord. 

Some  of  their  cities  had  been  laid  desolate,  even  as  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah; — by  what  precise  agency  is  not  said;  but  the  rest  of 


130  AMOS.— CHAP.  IV. 

the  nation  might  fitly  regard  themselves  as  a  brand  plucked  from 
the  flames.  These  figures  occur,  Zech.  3 :  2,  and  1  Cor.  2 :  15. 
Yet  this  most  fearful  scourge  of  all,  which  seemed  almost  to  kindle 
the  very  fires  of  perdition  upon  them,  failed  to  secure  repentance. 

12.  Therefore,  thus  will  I  do  unto  thee,  O  Israel : 
and  because  I  will  do  this  unto  thee,  prepare  to  meet 
thy  God,  O  Israel. 

"  Therefore  "  implies  that  by  the  very  necessities  of  his  moral 
government,  since  all  discipline  and  chastisement  fail,  exterminat- 
ing judgments  must  come  ! The  word  "  thus,"  which  here  raises 

the  question,  How  will  God  deal  with  them?  refers  to  the  previous 
verses.  The  answer  therefore  is — As  I  have  exterminated  some  of 
your  cities,  root  and  branch,  even  as  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  so  will 

I  do  to  the  whole  nation. Because  I  have  purposed  to  do  this,  I 

now  give  thee  warning — "  Prepare  to  meet  thy  God  !  "  Ye  must 
meet  him,  coming  with  exterminating  judgments ;  there  is  no  es- 
cape;  therefore  be  in  readiness! The  spirit  of  this  announce- 
ment seems  to  be  that  the  decree  of  judgment  had  gone  forth,  and 
its  execution  was  fixed  in  the  counsels  of  Heaven ;  and  yet  this  fact 
is  declared,  not  with  the  expectation  that  the  masses  will  hear  and 
repent,  but  rather  in  the  hope  that  some  individuals  might ;  and  that 
it  might  stand  as  a  warning  to  all  other  guilty  nations  in  later  times. 

It  will  be  noticed  thai;  the  primary  sense  of  the  passage  relates 

to  Israel  as  a  nation,  and  had  its  fulfilment  in  the  final  desolation 
and  captivity  effected  by  the  Assyrian  power  as  stated  2  Kings  17. 
But  in  principle  it  applies  with  even  augmented  force  to  all  the  in- 
corrigibly wicked,  summoned  to  meet  God  in  the  final  judgment- 
day.  It  warns  them  to  be  ready  to  meet  him  then  and  there,  by 
turning  at  once  to  become  his  friends  and  people.  0  might  the 
wicked  only  be  wise  in  time,  and  make  the  Great  Judge  their  friend 
while  they  may,  so  freely  and  with  such  welcome ! 

13.  For,  lo,  he  that  formcth  the  mountains,  and  cre- 
ateth  the  wind,  and  declareth  unto  man  what  is  his 
thought,  that  maketh  the  morning  darkness,  and  tread- 
eth  upon  the  high  places  of  the  earth,  The  Loed,  The 
God  of  hosts,  is  his  name. 

To  give  his  readers  some  just  sense  of  the  majesty  of  that  Being 
whom  sinners  of  that  and  of  every  age  must  meet  in  judgment,  he 
names  a  few  of  his  mighty  acts.  The  passage  has  scarcely  a  par- 
allel for  its  beauty  and  sublimity. The  Creator  must  be  indefi- 
nitely greater  than  his  works; — but  look  at  tlicm — the  mountains 
and  the  winds ;  note  how  he  can  tell  man  all  his  thoughts;  how  he 
can  change  the  glory  of  the  morning  into  darkness  ;  and  with  the 
majestic  march  of  a  God,  tread  upon  the  high  places  of  the  earth — 
Jehovah,  God  of  the  armies  of  heaven,  his  name  : — then  say — Is  it 
well  for  thee  to  rouse  his  wrath  to  flame  and  then  to  fall  before  it? 


AMOS.— CHAP.  V.  131 

Can  thy  heart  endure  and  thy  hands  he  strong  in  so  dread  a  con- 
flict?    Wilt  thou  persist  in  having  this  Almighty  God  thino  enemy? 

It  is  remarkable  that  though  this  chapter  begins  with  caustic 

irony,  yet  it  ends  with  the  most  tender,  solemn  warnings.  Hence 
the  irony  is  not  malign,  hut  is  benevolent — used  only  for  the  better 
moral  effect — not  for  any  satisfaction  to  be  found  in  intiicting  a 


CHAPTER    Y. 

In  this  chapter  the  prophet  laments  the  fall  of  Israel ;  exhorts 
the  people  to  seek  the  Lord ;  portrays  the  glory  and  power  of  Je- 
hovah, as  reasons  why  he  should  be  both  feared  and  sought ;  re- 
bukes the  sins  of  the  people,  and  affirms  God's  abhorrence  of  the 
mere  forms  of  worship  without  the  heart  and  without  justice  and 
righteousness  toward  fellow-men. 

1.  Hear  ye  tins  word  which  I  take  up  against  you, 
even  a  lamentation,  O  house  of  Israel. 

2.  The  virgin  of  Israel  is  fallen ;  she  shall  no  more 
rise :  she  is  forsaken  upon  her  land :  there  is  none  to 
raise  her  up. 

This  lamentation,  or  elegy — a  plaintive  wail  of  grief — assumes 
forcibly  that  Israel  is  seen  as  one  fallen,  and  her  nationality  extinct. 
She  is  compared  to  a  maiden,  now  gone  down  to  rise  no  more. 
"  Forsaken  upon  her  land  "  should  rather  be  u prostrate  upon  her 
own  land,"  with  none  to  help  her  rise. 

3.  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  God ;  The  city  that  went 
out  l)\j  a  thousand  shall  leave  an  hundred,  and  that 
which  went  forth  by  an  hundred  shall  leave  ten,  to  the 
house  of  Israel. 

The  glory  of  cities  was  graduated  by  tlue  number  of  men  they 
could  send  out  for  war.  The  passage  shows  how  fearfully  their 
strength  had  departed.  The  city  that  once  sent  forth  a  thousand 
had  now  but  a  hundred  left ;  so  that  the  house  of  Israel  was  shorn 
of  its  military  strength. 

4.  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  unto  the  house  of  Israel, 
Seek  ye  me,  and  ye  shall  live  : 

5.  But  seek  not  Beth-el,  nor  enter  into  Gilgal,  and 
pass  not  to  Beer-sheba :  for  Gilgal  shall  surely  go  into 
captivity,  and  Beth-el  shall  come  to  nought. 

"Seeking  the  Lord"  is  returning  to  him  in  penitence  and  im- 
ploring his  mercy.  •    The  promise — "thou    shalt  live" — usually 


132  AMOS.— CHAP.  V. 

covers  something  more  and  other  than  natural  life,  and,  in  the  case 
of  Israel,  more  than  a  prolonged  nationality;  it  means  the  richest 
blessings.  Life  is  one  of  the  most  comprehensive  and  expressive 
terms  in  human  language  to  denote  blessedness — substantial  good. 

"  Seek  not  Bethel ;  "  i.  e.,  the  idol  gods  of  Bethel.     So  Gilgal 

and  Beersheba  are  not  to  be  sought,  considered  as  seats  of  idol-wor- 
ship. In  the  last  clause  the  prophet  fastens  the  thought  in  the 
mind  of  his  Hebrew  readers  by  a  play  upon  his  words.  Gilgal, 
meaning  the  place  of  rolled-up  heaps,  shall  be  rolled  away  ini  o 
captivity ;  Bethel  shall  become  Aven,  nothing,  void  of  any  living 
thing.  The  word  rendered  "  nought "  is  Aven.  Bethel  came  to 
be  frequently  "called  Beth-aven,  because  it  was  desecrated  by  its 
idols.  Here  the  sense  is  even  stronger — house  of  nonentities, 
empty  of  even  its  senseless,  powerless  idols.  Even  they  have  gone 
and  perished ! 

6.  Seek  the  Lord,  and  ye  shall  live ;  lest  lie  break 
out  like  fire  in  the  house  of  Joseph,  and  devour  it,  and' 
there  be  none  to  quench  it  in  Beth-el. 

A  further  reason  for  seeking  Jehovah  is,  "  lest  he  break  forth 
like  fire  on  the  house  of  Joseph  " — Joseph  being  another  name  for 
the  northern  kingdom. The  last  clause,  literally  rendered,  is  ex- 
pressive :  "  And  there  be  no  quencher  for  Bethel" — no  one  to  ex- 
tinguish the  fires  the  Lord  kindles  upon  her. 

7.  Ye  who  turn  judgment  to  wormwood,  and  leave 
off  righteousness  in  the  earth, 

"Wormwood"  is  one  of  the  most  bitter  of  herbs — significantly 
put  here  for  the  grief  felt  by  those  who  get  only  wrong  and  injury 
where  they  should  have- right  and  good.     The  passage  describes 

those  who  wrest  the  cause  of  the  innocent  and  pervert  justice. 

The  clause  "  leave  off  righteousness  in  the  earth  "  is  better  ren- 
dered, "  who  cast  righteousness  to  the  ground."  The  words  mi-' 
ply  also  that  they  make  it  lie  there — make  that  its  resting-place — 
and  allow  it  no  practical  sway  in  human  affairs. 

8.  Seek  him  that  maketh  the  seven  stars  and  Orion, 
and  turneth  the  shadow  of  death  into  the  morning,  and 
maketh  the  day  dark  with  night :  that  calleth  for  the 
waters  of  the  sea,  and  poureth  them  out  upon  the  face 
of  the  earth  :  The  Loud  is  his  name  : 

Men  should  seek  God  because  he  is  so  great  and.  so  glorious — 
has  such  power  to  turn  our  day  to  night,  and  our  night  to  day — to 
bring  up  the  waters  of  ocean  by  his  call,  and  pour  them  forth 
as  of  old,  in  the  deluge.  The  beauty  and  sublimity  of  this  passage 
are  exquisite.  Job  has  a  similar  allusion  to  those  brilliant  constel 
lations  (9 :  9). 


AMOS.— CHAR   V.  133 

9.  That  strengtheneth  the  spoiled  against  the  strong, 
so  that  the  spoiled  shall  come  against  the  fortress. 

This  magnificent  description  of  the  power  of  Jehovah  closes 
with  a  word  designed  to  make  it  more  practical  to  the  Samaritans 
who  relied  on  the  military  strength  of  their  capital — "  Who  makes 
destruction  flash  out  upon  the  mighty,  and  desolation  shall  como 
upon  the  strong  city."  The  first  verb,  which  I  have  rendered 
"flash  out,"  takes  its  figure  from  the  breaking  forth  of  the  dawn 
upon  the  darkness  of  the  night — a  figure  which  has  most  force  in 
countries  near  the  equator,  where  the  twilight  is  short.  The  re- 
ceived translation  fails  to  give  the  exact  sense. 

10.  They  hate  him  that  rebuketh  in  the  gate,  and 
they  abhor  him  that  speaketh  uprightly. 

Again  the  prophet  reverts  to  the  reigning  sin  of  the  people. 
They  love  darkness  and  hate  light,  because  their  deeds  are  evil,  and 
they  are  committed  to  wrong-doing.  The  "  gate  "  was  in  that  ago 
the  court-house — the  place  where  justice  should  reign,  and  sin  be 
always  rebuked.  The  people  of  Samaria  hated  the  upright,  honest 
judge,  and  whoever  else  should  speak  for  righteousness. 

11.  Forasmuch  therefore  as  your  treading  is  upon 
the  poor,  and  ye  take  from  him  burdens  of  wheat :  ye 
have  built  houses  of  hewn  stone,  but  ye  shall  not  dwell 
in  them ;  ye  have  planted  pleasant  vineyards,  but  ye 
shall  not  drink  wine  of  them. 

These  "burdens  of  wheat "  were  cruel  exactions  in  the  form  of 
rents  or  taxes,  wet  oppressive  and  unrighteous.  For  these  sins  of 
oppressing  the  poor,  God  will  tear  them,  away  from  their  houses 
and  vineyards.  However  much  they  may  build  the  one  and  plant 
the  other,  he  can  frustrate  their  hope  of  enjoying  them.  It  is  hard 
fighting  against  God.  No  wisdom  and  no  strength  can  withstand 
him. 

12.  For  I  know  your  manifold  transgressions  and 
your  mighty  sins :  they  afflict  the  just,  they  take  a 
bribe,  and  they  turn  aside  the  poor  in  the  gate  from 
their  right. 

"  For  I  know  that  your  transgressions  are  many,  and  your  sins 
great." "  The  poor  in  the  gate  "  are  before  the  courts  of  justice. 

13.  Therefore  the  prudent  shall  keep  silence  in  that 
time  ;  for  it  is  an  evil  time. 

"  The  prudent "  are  the  wise  and  good.  They  keep  silence  and 
forbear  to  rebuke  the  sins  of  the  age,  because  they  see  no  hope  of 
doing  good  thereby.  They  recognize  God's  awful  presence  to  scourgo 
the  people,  and  they  bow  before  his  manifestly  righteous  way.^. 


134:  AMOS.— CHAP.   V. 

14  Seek  good,  and  not  evil,  that  ye  may  live :  and 
so  the  Lord,  the  God  of  hosts,  shall  be  with  yon,  as  ye 
have  spoken. 

"  As  ye  have  spoken  "  refers  to  their  professions  of  "being  the 
people  of  the  Lord,  and,  as  such,  safe  against  harm  from  a  heathen 
foe.  The  prophet  says  to  them — "  Seek  good,  and  not  evil ;  "  so 
the  Lord  of  hosts  shall  be  with  you  truly— as  ye  have  been  saying 
when  it  was  not  true. 

15.  Hate  the  evil,  and  love  the  good,  and  establish 
judgment  in  the  gate :  it  may  be  that  the  Lord  God  of 
hosts  will  be  gracious  unto  the  remnant  of  Joseph. 

The  phrase  " remnant  of  Joseph"  implies  that  the  population 
was  already  greatly  reduced  in  numbers,  of  which  fact  there  is 
proof  in  2  Kings  10  :  32,  33  :  "  In  those  days  the  Lord  began  to 
cut  Israel  short,  and  Hazael  smote  them  in  all  the  coasts  of  Israel." 

16.  Therefore,  the  Lord,  the  God  of  hosts,  the  Lord, 
saith  thus ;  Wailing  shall  be  in  all  streets ;  and  they  shall 
say  in  all  the  highways,  Alas !  alas !  and  they  shall  call 
the  husbandmen  to  mourning,  and  such  as  are  skilful  of 
lamentation  to  wailing. 

17.  And  in  all  vineyards  shall  be  wailing :  for  I  will 
pass  through  thee,  saith  the  Lord. 

Tbe  prophet  Amos  is  remarkable  for  the  fulness  and  solemnity 
with  which  he  uses  the  significant  names  of  God.  Here  is  an  in- 
stance: "Jehovah,  the  God  of  hosts"  (or  celestial  armies),  "the 
Lord,  saith  thus,"  &c.  The  people  at  that  time  had  a  very  imper- 
fect sense  of  the  glory  and  majesty  of  the  Lord  their  God.  This 
grouping  of  his  majestic  names  was  therefore  entirely  appropriate, 

and  had  a  most  worthy  object. In  this  passage  the  Lord  seeks  to 

impress  the  certainty  of  their  impending  doom  by  declaring  that 
soon  there  shall  be  wailing  through  all  the  populous  cities  and  the 
country.  The  "  skilful  of  lamentation  "  were  persons  who  made  it 
their  profession  to  sing  or  chant  mournful  dirges  at  funerals,  or  on 
other  occasions  of  public  sorrow.  Eccles.  12  :  5  speaks  of  this  class 
of  persons  as  "going  about  the  streets."  Jer.  9  :  17-19  seems  to 
show  that  women  were  specially  employed  in  this  service.  This 
usage   prevailed  not   only  among  the  llebrews,  but  among  the 

ancient  Greeks,  Eomans,  Egyptians,  and  other  nations   also. 

God  "will  pass  through"  the  land  and  among  the  people  in  such 
a  way  that  they  shall  feel  his  presence  and  be  made  fearfully  con- 
scious of  his  wrath. 

18.  Woe  unto  you  that  desire  the  day  of  the  Lord  ! 
to  what  end  is  it  for  you  ?  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  dark- 

\.  and  not  light. 


AMOS.— CHAP.   V.  135 

10.  As  if  a  man  did  nee  from  a  lion,  and  a  bear  met 
him ;  or  went  into  the  house,  and  leaned  his  hand  on 
the  wall,  and  a  serpent  bit  him. 

20.  Shall  not  the  day  of  the  Lord  he  darkness,  and 
not  light  %  even  very  dark,  and  no  brightness  in  it  ? 

In  their  foolliardiness  some  had  expressed  their  desire  that  this 
day  of  the  Lord  might  come,  madly  daring  Jehovah  to  do  his  worst. 
Upon  them  God  denounces  special  woe.  He  asks — What  will  this 
day  of  the  Lord  he  to  you  ?  and  answers — Only  darkness,  and  not 
light ;  no  rays  of  light  in  it ;  no  mitigation  to  its  horrors.  Then, 
by  two  expressive  figures,  of  a  class  natural  to  the  mind  of  one 
trained  in  fields  and  deserts  where  wild  beasts  have  their  homes,  he 
shows  that  to  attempt  to  flee  from  God  in  any  direction  would  be 

only  to  meet  him  there  in  a  more  fearful  form. What  else  can 

any  sane  mind  think  of  the  daring  impiety  that  challenges  God 
to  show  his  power  to  curse  and  punish,  save  that  it  is  the  veriest 
madness?  Do  such  men  suppose  they  can  cope  with  Omnipotence? 
Do  they  assume  that  God's  resources  for  making  them  feel  the  bit- 
terness of  his  strokes,  are  likely  to  be  soon  exhausted  ?  Or  do  they 
glory  in  rousing  their  puny  souls  to  bravery  and  daring,  as  if  it 
were  noble  to  measure  strength  with  the  Almighty  ?  Alas  for  the 
folly  and  the  madness  that  sin  begets  ! 

21.  I  hate,  I  despise  yonr  feast  days,  and  I  will  not 
smell  in  yonr  solemn  assemblies. 

22.  Though  ye  offer  me  bnrnt-offerings  and  yonr 
meat-offerings,  I  will  not  accept  them;  neither  will  I 
regard  the  peace-offerings  of  yonr  fat  beasts. 

23.  Take  thou  away  from  me  the  noise  of  thy  songs ; 
for  I  will  not  hear  the  melody  of  thy  viols. 

The  people  were  deluding  themselves  with  the  notion  that  they 
were  high  in  favor  with  God,  because  they  kept  up  the  forms  of 
the  Mosaic  worship.  To  dispel  this  delusion,  the  Lord  solemnly  pro- 
tests to  them  that  He  not  only  takes  no  pleasure  in  their  worship, 
but  thoroughly  abhors  it:  "I  hate,  I  loathe  your  feast  days.'' 
The  practice  of  burning  incense  in  worship  for  the  sake  of  its  sweet 
odors,  led  to  the  use  of  the  verb  to  smell  in  this  connection.  It 
may  perhaps  be  as  well  to  translate  so  as  to  give  only  the  ultimate 

sense — I  have  no  pleasure  in    your  solemn    assemblies. The 

"peace-offerings"  are  often  called  "thank-offerings,"  a  term  which 
better  expresses  their  significance — offerings  of  gratitude  and  thanks- 
giving.  The  word  unoise'n  (v.  23)  is  highly  expressive,  showing 

that  music  with  no  heart  in  it  is  only  noise,  and  never  melody  to  the 
ear  of  God,  a  thought  worthy  of  consideration  in  reference  to  the 
"  service  of  sacred  song  "  in  our  own  times.  If  the  Lord  had  a 
prophet  Amos  to  send  now  into  modern  congregations,  would  he 


130  AMOS.— CHAP.  V. 

not  (sometimes)  give  Mm  this  very  message  ? The  sentiment  of 

these  verses  appears  in  several  other  prophets — in  Hosea,  as  ^ve 
have  seen,  6  :  6,  and  8 :  13,  and  9:4;  and  Isa.  1 :  11-15. 

24.  But  let  judgment  run  down  as  waters,  and  right- 
eousness as  a  mighty  stream. 

The  Lord  asks  them  to  reform,  not  their  modes  of  worship,  but 
their  morals,  their  monstrous  wrongs  and  oppressions  of  their  fel- 
low-men. Let  judgment  (in  the  sense  of  justice)  flow  freely,  rolling 
on  as  water,  smoothly  and  without  obstruction ;  and  let  righteous- 
ness be  as  a  perennial  stream.  Some  critics  say  perennial ;  others 
say  strong,  powerful.  Either  is  good  sense,  and  the  original  bears 
either.    A  stream  never  dry,  and  never  abating  its  flow,  seems  most 

in  harmony  with  the  scope  of  thought. How  strongly  does  the 

word  of  God  affirm  and  reiterate  the  doctrine  that  God  repels  the 
forms  of  worship,  unless  they  are  accompanied  with  an  honest  re- 
gard for  our  fellow-men  !  He  will  never  accept  of  worship  profess- 
edly offered  to  himself,  in  place  of  duties  due  to  man. This  is 

truly  like  a  father,  to  insist  that  we  shall  treat  all  his  children  well, 
as  a  condition  of  his  accepting  our  worship  of  himself.  No 
worship  can  be  so  costly  or  so  imposing  that  it  can  supply  the  place 
of  "  loving  our  neighbor  as  ourself." 

25.  Have  ye  offered  unto  me  sacrifices  and  offerings 
in  the  wilderness  forty  years,  O  house  of  Israel  ? 

26.  But  ye  have  borne  the  tabernacle  of  your  Moloch 
and  Chiun  your  images,  the  star  of  your  god,  which  ye 
made  to  yourselves. 

27.  Therefore  will  I  cause  you  to  go  into  captivity 
beyond  Damascus,  saith  the  Lord,  whose  name  is  The 
God  of  hosts. 

This  question  assumes  that  the  answer  is  affirmative.  Ye  did, 
indeed,  i.  e.,  your  fathers,  then  living,  did  offer  sacrifices  in  the 
wilderness;  %ut,  ye  also  carried  along  your  little  idol  images 
secretly,  stealthily,  all  that  time.  The  same  spirit  of  idolatry  has 
become  far  more  rampant,  open,  Heaven-daring,  in  these  later 
times,  for  which  I  shall  send  you  iuto  captivity  beyond  Damascus. 

This  is  the  general  scope. The  particular  explanation  of  v.  2G 

has  been  found  somewhat  difficult.  The  quotation  of  it  by  Stephen 
(Acts  7 :  42,  43),  made  from  the  Septuagint  version,  shows  some 
of  these  various  opinions.  The  original  words  have  been  spelled 
and  read  differently;  e.  g.,  the  Hebrew  reading  is  Melek,  which 
means  king;  the  Septuagint  is  Moloch,  an  ancient  idol.  Some 
make  Chiun  a  proper,  others  a  common  noun.  None  of  these 
points  of  difference  materially  affect  the  general  sense  of  the 
passage,  which,  beyond  all  doubt,  means  that  the  Israelites  in  the 
wilderness  bore  along  with  them  little  shrines  and  images  of  idol 


AMOS.— CHAP.  VI.  137 

gods,  or  of   some  of  the  planets. The  Hebrew  text  might  he 

rendered,  "But  ye  bore  the  shrine  of  your  king  (meaning,  your 
idol)  and  the  little  images  of  your  idols,  the  star  of  your 
god,  which  ye  made  for  yourselves."  The  last  clause  implies  that 
the  images  represented  a  star,  and  involved  the  worship  of  the 
planet  Saturn.  They  supposed  the  planets  to  be  animated,  conscious 
and  powerful,  wielding  a  vast  influence  over  human  destiny.  These 
ideas  and  usages  they  found  and  embraced  in  Egypt.  Of  their  per- 
petual tendency  to  idol  worship  while  in  the  wilderness,  the  history 
gives  painful  evidence,  especially  in  the  case  of  the  golden  calf  (Ex. 
32).  In  our  passage  it  is  assumed  that,  like  Eachel  in  Jacob's  family, 
some  of  the  Hebrews,  during  those  forty  years,  bore  along  their 

little  idol  shrines  and  worshipped  them. The  Jews  were  never 

thoroughly  cured  of  their  proclivities  toward  idols  until  their 
seventy  years'  captivity.  The  captivity  of  the  ten  tribes  practically 
destroyed  their  nationality,  and  sunk  them  into  oblivion,  so  that  it 
cannot  be  known  whether  they  ever  abandoned  their  idol  worship. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

"Woks  on  cities  and  their  chief  men  who  can  be  at  ease  in  their 
great  sins,  and  in  the  very  face  of  fearful  judgments  from  the  Almighty ; 
further  specifications  of  their  sins  of  luxury,  intemperance,  and 
oppression ;  followed  by  announcements  of  yet  more  desolating 
judgments,  fill  up  this  chapter. 

1.  Woe  to  them  that  are  at  ease  in  Zion,  and  trust  in 
the  mountain  of  Samaria,  which  are  named  chief  of  the 
nations,  to  whom  the  house  of  Israel  came  ! 

The  wor$  Zion  embraces  Jerusalem  and  her  leading  minds,  as, 
on  the  other  hand,  Samaria  carries  us  to  the  chief  city  of  the  north- 
ern   kingdom.      The  people  of    Samaria  trusted  in  the  natural 

strength  of  their  position — on  the  mountains. "  Judah  and  Israel 

were  renowned  as  chief  among  the  nations  "  of  Western  Asia.  The 
clause  "  to  whom  the  house  of  Israel  came,"  refers  to  the  leading 
men — princes,  judges,  and  religious  teachers,  to  whom  the  people 
came  for  justice  in  the  courts,  and  to  whom  they  looked  for  influence 

and  direction. This  woe  came  on  them  because  of  their  great 

guilt,  especially  the  guilt  of  being  reckless  in  the  midst  of  awful  sin, 
and  under  God's  revealed  threatenings  of  exterminating  judgments. 
For  the  responsible  leading  men  to  say  practically  in  the  face  of 
such  threatenings,  What  do  we  care?  was  fearfully  provoking  to 
the  Most  High,  and  must  inevitably  seal  their  doom.  In  every  age 
sinners  who  scorn  the  warnings  of  Jehovah,  and  would  fain  beat  ease 
in  Zion  despite  of  them,  are  near  the  point  where  judgments  break 
forth  and  "  there  is  no  remedy !  " 


138  AMOS.—CHAP.  VI. 

2.  Pass  ye  unto  Calneh,  and  see ;  and  from  thence 
go  ye  to  Hamath  the  great :  then  go  down  to  Gath  of 
the  Philistines  :  he  they  better  than  these  kingdoms  ?  or 
their  border  greater  than  your  border  ? 

This  verse  connects  itself  in  thought  with  the  clause  "  which 
are  named  chief  of  the  nations  "  (v.  1).  The  thought  is — Judah 
and  Israel  have  stood  high  among  the  nations  of  their  time,  in 
military  power,  in  richness  of  country,  and  in  the  light  of  a  true 
religion :  their  responsibilities  are  therefore  the  greater,  and  so  much 
the  more  is  their  guilt  in  disowning  and  abusing  the  great  Giver  of 

their  blessings. That  they  were  truly  renowned  as  first  among 

the  nations,  any  one  may  see  by  going  (in  thought)  to  those  nations 
with  whom  the  comparison  should  naturally  be  made.  Pass  thus 
over  the  Euphrates  to  Calneh  (called  Calno,  Isaiah  10 :  9),  on  the 
east  bank  of  the  Tigris,  and  see ;  from  thence  go  to  Hamath  the 
great,  on  the  Orontes,  one  of  the  great  cities  of  Syria ;  then  go  down 
to  Gath  of  the  Philistines :  were  they  better  than  these  two  king- 
doms, Judah  and  Israel?  or  had  they  a  larger  and  better  territory? 

3.  Ye  that  put  far  away  the  evil  day,  and  cause  the 
seat  of  violence  to  come  near  ; 

4.  That  lie  upon  beds  of  ivory,  and  stretch  them- 
selves upon  their  couches,  and  eat  the  lambs  out  of  the 
flock,  and  the  calves  out  of  the  midst  of  the  stall ; 

5.  That  chant  to  the  sound  of  the  viol,  and  invent 
to  themselves  instruments  of  music,  like  David  ; 

G.  That  drink  wine  in  bowls,  and  anoint  themselves 
with  the  chief  ointments :  but  they  are  not  grieved  for 
the  affliction  of  Joseph. 

Here  is  a  rapid  description  of  the  social  and  moral  life  of  the 
classes  in  question — the  leading  minds,  especially  in  flic  kingdom 
of  Israel.  They  "put  far  away  the  evil  day,"  i.  e.,  in  thought,  they 
assume  it  to  be  far  distant,  and  they  act  as  if  it  were;  but  the 
throne  of  violence — the  bench  of  justice  whence  righteousness 
should  proceed  and  violence  never  should — they  cause  to  come 
near; — the  form  of  expression  being  antithetic  to  that  in  the  first 
clause.  They  thrust  the  fear  of  danger  from  sin  far  away,  and 
welcome  near  the  worst  forms  of  wrong,  even  legalized  oppression, 
rolling  in  luxury,  lounging  in  idleness,  feasting  on  iatlings  from 
flock  and  stall,  chattering  to  the  sound  of  the  viol  (where  the  word 
used  by  the  prophet  has  a  spice  of  irony  and  contempt) ;  but  they 
are  fain  to  give  themselves  to  music,  as  if  nothing  in  their  great 
guilt  and  near  approaching  doom  should  be  allowed  to  trench  on 
their  hilarity;  and  to  crown  all,  they  drink  wine  by  the  bowlful, 
and,  anointing  themselves  with  the  richest  oils,  they  think  only  of 
personal  self-indulgence  and  never   "grieve  for  the  affliction  of 


AMOS.— CHAP.  VI.  139 

Joseph."     Their  country  and  the  cause  of  their  nation's  God  have 

no  place  in  their  hearts. This  last  clause,  "  they  grieve  not  for 

the  affliction  of  Joseph,"  is  analogous  to  "  being  at  case  in  Zion," 
and  shows  why  the  woes  of  God  came  down  on  Israel.     They  had 

no   true   sympathy  with  God   or  with   his  people. The  name 

"Joseph"  represents  the  kingdom  of  Israel  considered  especially  as 
being  the  chosen  people  of  God,  and  bearing  his  name  before  the 
nations ;  yet  may  there  not  be,  in  the  choice  of  this  name,  a  tacit 
allusion  to  the  original  Joseph  among  his  envious,  heartless  breth- 
ren, when  they  "  saw  the  anguish  of  his  soul,  and  he  besought  them, 
and  they  would  not  hear."  Little  did  they  heed  the  affliction  of 
Joseph  then ;  alike  heedless  are  the  people  of  Samaria  in  the  days 
of  this  prophet.  Hence  the  righteous  woe,  so  soon  to  fall  upon 
them.  • 

7.  Therefore,  now  shall  they  go  captive  with,  the  first 
that  go  captive,  and  the  banquet  of  them  that  stretched 
themselves  shall  he  removed. 

As  the  men  of  wealth  and  high  standing  have  been  foremost  in 
oppressing  the  poor  and  wresting  the  cause  of  the  meek ;  foremost 
also  in  luxury,  self-indulgence,  and  recklessness  of  the  cause  of 
God :  so  they  shall  be  first  among  the  captives,  heading  the  sad 
procession;  and  the  banquet  of  those  who  lay  stretched  out  around 
(in  beastly  drunkenness,  we  must  suppose),  shall  be  quite  broken 
up.     (The  Lord  has  no  special  tenderness  toward  this  beastly  sin!) 

8.  The  Lord  G-od  hath  sworn  by  himself,  saith  the 
Lord  the  G-od  of  hosts,  I  abhor  the  excellency  of  Jacob, 
and  hate  his  palaces:  therefore  will  I  deliver  up  the 
city  with  all  that  is  therein. 

Note  the  solemn  reiteration  of  the  names  of  God  in  this  case, 
in  which,  since  "  he  can  swear  by  no  greater,  he  swears  by  him- 
self." The  things  so  solemnly  affirmed  arc  two:  (1.)  That  "  God 
abhors  the  excellency  of  Jacob,"  &c. ;  (2.)  That  he  will  abandon 

"the  city  and  all  its  inhabitants  to  destruction. The  "  excellency 

of  Jacob  "  has  been  alluded  to  in  this  chapter ;  see  v.  1,  "  chief  of 
the  nations,"  and  v.  2,  "better  than  other  adjacent  kingdoms;  " — 
this  excellency  being  mainly  thought  of  as  lying  in  its  natural  ad- 
vantages. The  same  sense  must  be  the  primary  one  here,  the  more 
so  because  connected  with  "  his  palaces  ;  "  but  the  reason  why  God 
has  come  to  abhor  and  hate  a  noble  country,  once  flowing  with 
milk  and  honey,  and  the  glory  of  all  lands,  lies  in  the  guilt,  and  es- 
pecially the  pride  of  its  people.  To  this  there  seems  to  be  a  tacit 
allusion  in  the  very  phrase,  "  the  excellency  of  Jacob,"  since  this 
word  in  Hebrew  is  used  for  pride,  as  well  as  for  naturally  excellent 
qualities.  The  sense  then,  here,  is  that  the  pride  and  moral  corrup- 
tion of  the  people  were  so  monstrous  and  so  intrinsically  hateful 
to  God,  that  he  abhorred  the  very  country  for  their  sake,  and  must 


140  AMOS.— CHAP.  VI. 

spoil  its  fair  beauty  and  consign  it  to  long  and  blank  desolation. 
And  there  tlie  land  of  Palestine  lies  to-day — as  yet,  not  half  recov- 
ered from  this  fearful  curse ! 

9.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  if  there  remain  ten 
men  in  one  house,  that  they  shall  die. 

10.  And  a  man's  uncle  shall  take  him  up,  and  he 
that  "burnetii  him,  to  bring  out  the  bones  out  of  the 
house,  and  shall  say  unto  him  that  is  by  the  sides  of  the 
house,  Is  there  yet  any  with  thee  ?  and  he  shall  say,  No. 
Then  shall  he  say,  Hold  thy  tongue :  for  we  may  not 
make  mention  of  the  name  of  the  Lord. 

To  show  how  utter  would  be  the  destruction  of  its  inhabitants, 
the  prophet  gives  some  particulars  for  illustration.  If  only  a  small 
number,  say  ten  (a  definite  number  for  an  indefinite),  remain  in  one 
house,  even  they  shall  all  die.  And  when  a  man's  uncle  (or  other 
friend),  together  with  him  whose  office  it  shall  be  to  burn  the  corpse, 
bring  out  a  dead  body,  and  finding  one  poor  invalid  in  some  corner  or 
closet  of  the  house,  shall  ask  him,  "  Is  there  another  dead  man  here  ?  " 
he  shall  say,  "  No  more ;  "  and  then  shall  add,  u  Hush  !  for  we  may 

not  make  mention  of  the  name  of  the  Lord." This  last  phrase — 

"make  mention  of  the  name  of  the  Lord" — usually  signifies,  to 
speak  of  God  in  grateful,  appropriate  acknowledgment,  and  due 
honor.  See  Josh.  23  :  7,  where  this  is  forbidden  in  reference  to  false 
gods ;  also  Ps.  20 :  7,  and  Isa.  62  :  6.  Precisely  what  this  prohibi- 
tion meant  in  this  case  is  not  certain ;  perhaps  it  indicates  such  a 
sense  of  the  awfulness  of  God's  presence  in  this  scourge  upon  the 
land  that  guilty  men  could  not  endure  to  hear  his  name  ! 

11.  For,  behold,  the  Lord  commandeth,  and  he  will 
smite  the  great  house  with  breaches,  and  the  little  house 
with  clefts. 

All  the  houses,  great  or  little,  shall  be  smitten ;  the  great  shat- 
tered to  pieces,  as  the  Hebrew  word  implies ;  the  little  ones  rent 
with  clefts.  Oppressors,  enriched  by  wrong,  are  remembered  be- 
fore God  in  this  day  of  judgment. 

12.  Shall  horses  run  upon  the  rock  ?  will  one  plough 
there  with  oxen  ?  for  ye  have  turned  judgment  into  gall, 
and  the  fruit  of  righteousness  into  hemlock : 

These  questions  put  cases,  not  of  extreme  difficulty  so  much  as 
of  practical  impossibility,  and  aim  to  illustrate  the  futility  and  ab- 
surdity of  those  vain  reliances  which  have  kept  up  the  spirits  of  the 
people.  They  had  been  hoping  to  repel  their  foreign  enemies  and 
withstand  the  threatened  judgments  of  the  Almighty.  He  hints  to 
them  that  they  might  as  well  plough  the  rock  with  oxen,  or  run 
horses  upon  the  precipitous  cliffs  of  their  mountain  glens. Why 


AMOS.— CHAP.  VI.  141 

could  they  not  escape  ?  Why  could  they  not  resist  Jehovah's  wrath  ? 
Because  they  "  had  turned  judgment  into  gall " — that  which  is 
always  sweet  to  good  men  into  the  most  bitter  draught — "and  the 
fruit  of  righteousness" — righteous  judicial  decisions — "into  the 
poison  hemlock."  Such  perversions  of  justice  had  insured  Jeho- 
vah's wrath. What  a  lesson  of  warning  against  American  slave- 
holding! See  a  like  form  of  expression,  IIos.  10  :  4,  and  Amos 

5:7. 

13.  Ye  which  rejoice  in  a  thing  of  nought,  which 
say,  Have  we  not  taken  to  us  horns  by  our  own  strength  ? 

They  had  trusted  joyfully  in  what  could  avail  them  nought,  but 
must  prove  a  thing  of  no  power  to  save — a  mere  nothing.  They 
had  said,  "  Have  we  not  taken  to  ourselves  horns  (always  an  em- 
blem of  power)  by  our  own  strength?  "  Not  the  least  recognition 
of  God  as  their  strength  appears,  but,  on  the  contrary,  every  word 
indicates  'the  purest  self-conceit,  and  the  pride  of  self-made  help. 
Such  "pride  goeth  before  destruction,"  just  a  little  way  only,  be- 
fore ! 

14.  But  behold,  I  will  raise  up  against  you  a  nation, 
O  house  of  Israel,  saith  the  Loed  the  God  of  hosts ;  and 
they  shall  afflict  you  from  the  entering  in  of  Hamath 
unto  the  river  of  the  wilderness. 

This  prediction  almost  names  the  Assyrian  power — manifestly 
means  it.  God  raised  them,  up  ;  they  came,  and  did  indeed  lay  the 
land  desolate  "  from  the  entering  in  of  Hamath  " — a  very  common 
phrase  for  their  northern  border,  and  a  natural  thoroughfare  out- 
ward to  Hamath — "unto  the  river  of  the  wilderness."  This  name, 
"  the  wilderness  " — in  Hebrew,  Arabah — with  the  article,  is  applied 
in  the  Scriptures  to  the  great  valley  of  the  Jordan,  the  Lake  Genes- 
saret  (in  Heb.  Cinneroth),  and  the  Dead  Sea.  In  later  times,  the 
name  Arabah  has  been  specially  given  to  the  extension  of  this 
valley  southward,  from  the  Dead  Sea  to  the  Elanitic  Gulf.  But  in 
the  earlier  ages,  it  was  currently  given  to  the  portion  north  of  the 
Dead  Sea,  and  usually  translated  in  our  English  version,  "  the 
plain."  The  exceptions  are  Deut.  11 :  30,  "champaign,"  and  Josh. 
18  :  18,  "  Arabah."  See  other  passages — "  the  plain,"  Deut.  3  :  17, 
and  4 :  49 ;  Josh.  3  :  16,  and  8 :  14,  and  11 :  2,  10,  and  12  :  1,3; 
2  Kings  14:  25,  and  25:  4,  5,  &c.  This  wonderful  valley  was  on© 
of  the  natural  boundaries  of  the  kingdom. 


142  AMOS.— CHAP.  YH. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

This  chapter  records  three  successive  visions,  shown  to  th8 
prophet,  each  indicating  the  judgments  impending  over  the  land 
(vs.  1-9) ;  then  an  attempt  made  by  Amaziah,  an  idol  priest  of 
Bethel,  to  prevent  Amos  from  prophesying  more  in  Bethel,  and  to 
send  him  back  into  Judah ;  with  the  defence  made  by  Amos,  and 
the  response  made  by  the  Lord  (vs.  10-17). 

1.  Tims  hath  the  Lord  God  shewed  unto  me ;  and 
behold,  he  formed  grasshoppers  in  the  beginning  of  the 
shooting  up  of  the  latter  growth ;  and  lo,  it  was  the 
latter  growth  after  the  king's  mowings. 

That  this  is  a  vision  presented  to  the  spiritual  eye  of  tho 
prophet,  is  indicated  by  the  language — "Thus  did  the  Lord 
God  show  me,"  i.  e.,  cause  me  to  see.  He  saw  the  Lord  forming 
grasshoppers.  They  were  young,  but  fast  coining  forward  for  their 
work  of  destruction  ;  and  he  saw  God's  hand  in  them.  The  time 
was  just  when  the  meadows  were  putting  forward  their  second 
growth — the  after-math.  The  phrase,  "the  king's  mowings,"  is 
supposed  to  allude  to  a  claim  of  the  king  to  have  a  part,  at  least,  of 
the  first  growth  of  the  meadows. 

2.  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  when  they  had  made  an 
end  of  eating  the  grass  of  the  land,  then  I  said,  O  Lord 
God,  forgive,  I  beseech  thee :  by  whom  shall  Jacob 
arise  ?  for  he  is  small. 

After  he  had  seen  them  eat  the  last  of  the  grass  of  the  land,  he 
prayed  that  the  Lord  would  forgive  the  sin  for  which  this  scourge 
was  sent,  and  used  this  plea:  "By  whom  else  shall  Jacob  arise," 
i.  e.,  stand,  live;  "for  he  is  weak"  and  without  strength  against 
God,  and  against  such  agents  of  destruction  as  these. 

3.  The  Loed  repented  for  this  :  It  shall  not  be,  saith 
the  Lord. 

The  Lord  heard  his  prayer  and  changed  his  purpose,  sparing  tho 
land  the  judgments  which  this  vision  portended.  A  clear  and  strik- 
ing case  of  prevailing  prayer,  even  when  God's  purpose  to  destroy 

waa  not  only  formed,  but  made  known. What  the  precise  form 

of  this  judgment  would  have  been,  is  not  certain.  The  grass- 
hoppers, being  seen  only  in  vision,  may  have  been  symbolic  of  some 
other  form  of  judgment,  even  as  the  tire  in  the  next  verse  mani- 
festly must  have  been.  Amos  does  not  say  here,  as  Joel  did,  that 
actual  grasshoppers  came  up  over  the  land,  visible  to  all  the  people, 
and  thrilling  all  hearts  with  fear  and  dread. 

4.  Thus  hath  the  Lord  God  shewed  unto  me :  and, 


AMOS.— CHAP.  VII.  145 

behold,  the  Lord  God  -called  to  contend  by  fire,  and  it 
devoured  the  great  deep,  and  did  eat  up  a  part. 

5.  Then  said  I,  O  Lord  God,  cease,  I  beseech  thee : 
by  whom  shall  Jacob  arise  ?  for  he  is  small. 

6.  The  Loed  repented  for  this :  This  also  shall  not 
be,  saith  the  Lord  God. 

In  the  second  vision  he  heard  the  Lord  calling  for  the  action  of 
fire.  The  original  words  imply  a  controversy,  or  legal  judicial  issue 
by  fire,  probably  only  in  the  general  sense  of  a  judgment  on  the 
people  for  their  sins.  Appalling  to  behold,  this  fire  seemed  to  de- 
vour the  great  deep,  and  to  eat  up  the  dry  land  also.  The  original 
word  rendered  "a  part"  is  supposed  to  have  here  this  sense — not 
that  it  ate  up  a  part  of  the  gre'at  deep,  but  ate  up  the  dry  land. 
The  previous  clause,  using  the  same  verb,  affirms  that  it  had  eaten 
up  the  great  deep  already.  Of  course  I  construe  this  as  a  vision, 
and  symbolic  of  some  all-consuming  desolation,  doubtless  by  war 

and  conquest. Again  the  prophet  prays,  but  not  in  this  case  as 

before — "forgive" — which,  if  answered,  would  have  averted  the 
judgment ;  but,  ''*  desist;  "  cut  short  this  judgment ;  let  it  be  arrested 
midway.  He  uses  the  same  plea  as  before,  in  the  same  words ;  and 
the  Lord  answered  to  the  precise  extent  of  his  request.  He  desisted, 
after  the  judgment  had  run  a  part  of  its  course.  The  scourge  of 
war  and  indeed  of  captivity  came,  but  probably  with  the  less 

severity  because  of  the  prophet's  prevailing  prayer. These  cases, 

as  thus  recorded,  must  have  been  designed  of  God  to  encourage  his 
people  to  come  before  him  with  most  importunate  prayer  that  he 
would  avert,  either  in  part  or  wholly,  the  judgments  which  he 
seemed  about  to  inflict  on  a  guilty  people. 

7.  Thus  he  shewed  me  :  and  behold,  the  Lord  stood 
upon  a  wall  made  by  a  plumb-line,  with  a -plumb-line  in 
his  hand. 

8.  And  the  Loed  said  unto  me,  Amos,  what  seest 
thou  %  And  I  said,  A  plumb-line.  Then  said  the  Loed, 
Behold,  I  will  set  a  plumb-line  in  the  midst  of  my  people 
Israel :  I  will  not  again  pass  by  them  any  more : 

9.  And  the  high  places  of  Isaac  shall  be  desolate, 
and  the  sanctuaries  of  Israel  shall  be  laid  waste  :  and  I 
will  rise  against  the  house  of  Jeroboam  with  the  sword. 

The  third  vision  will  be  better  understood  if  wo  consider  that 
the  prophets  speak  of  a  measuring  line  as  marking  off  for  destroy- 
ing as  well  as  for  creatine;  for  casting  down,  no  less  than  for  build- 
ing up.  (Sec  2  Kings  21:  13,  and  Isa.  34  :  11,  and  Lam.  2  :  8.)  So 
here,  this  plumb-line  evinces  the  moral  obliquity  of  the  people  and 
their  consequent  fitness  for  destruction.  God  will  not  any  more 
pass  l>y  them,  but  will  take  them  in  hand  for  scourging  and  for  ruin. 


144:  AHOS.— CHAP.  VII. 

The  "high  places  of  Isaac "  were  those  elevated  sites  so  con- 
stantly chosen  for  idol  temples  and  idol  worship.  The  "  sanctuaries 
of  Israel "  were  their  idol  temples  and  shrines.  These  were  doomed 
to  utter  destruction,  and  at  least  by  implication  the  whole  land  as 
well.  The  "house  of  Jeroboam"  the  Lord  would  cut  off  by  the 
sword.  He  did  so ;  Shallum  (2  Kings  15  :  10)  conspired  against 
Zachariah,  son  and  successor  of  Jeroboam,  and  thus  ended  the 

royal  line  of  his  house. It  should  be  noted  that  in  this  third 

vision  nothing  is  said  of  the  prophet's  interceding  by  prayer  for  the 
removal  or  even  the  mitigation  of*  this  judgment.  He  saw  that  it  was 
most  righteously  deserved,  and  fully  fixed  in  the  counsels  of  Jehovah, 
and  therefore  he  forebore  to  press  any  plea  for  its  reversal.  Essen- 
tially the  same  answer  must  be  given  to  the  question — Why  did  he 
pray  "forgive"  in  reference  to  the  first  threatened  judgment,  and 
only  "desist"  upon  the  second?  "The  secret  of  the  Lord  is  with 
them  that  fear  him."  The  conditions  of  acceptable  prayer  being 
fully  met  on  our  part,  the  Lord,  on  his  part,  will  lead  our  minds  in 
prayer,  aiding  us  thus  to  ask  for  those  things,  and  only  those,  which 
he  is  pleased  to  grant. 

10.  Then  Amaziah  the  priest  of  Beth-el  sent  to  Jero- 
boam king  of  Israel,  saying,  Amos  has  conspired  against 
thee  in  the  midst  of  the  house  of  Israel :  the  land  is  not 
able  to  bear  all  his  words. 

11.  For  thus  Amos  saith,  Jeroboam  shall  die  by  the 
sword,  and  Israel  shall  surely  be  led  away  captive  out 
of  their  own  land. 

12.  Also,  Amaziah  said  unto  Amos,  O  thou  seer,  go 
flee  thee  away  into  the  land  of  Juclah,  and  there  eat 
bread,  and  prophesy  there  : 

13.  But  prophesy  not  again  any  more  at  Beth-el :  for 
it  is  the  king's  chapel,  and  it  is  the  king's  court. 

This  historical  sketch  (vs.  10-17)  presents  no  difficulties  that  re- 
quire exposition.  Amaziah,  "  the  priest  of  Bethel,"  was  probably 
the  high  priest  before  the  golden  calf  located  there,  for  there  must 
have  been  other  priests  as  well.     The  history  of  Elijah  (1  Kings  18) 

gives  us  some  facts  respecting  the  number  of  idol  priests. The 

charge  of  treason  against  the  king  and  the  state  was  often  brought 
against  the  Lord's  faithful  prophets,  and  constituted  one  of  their 
serious  embarrassments  and  trials.  It  seems  that  Jeroboam  did  not 
think  best  to  interfere  with  the  Lord's  prophet.  Amaziah  there- 
fore resorted  to  a  private  effort  (vs.  12,  13)  to  get  Amos  out  of  the 
kingdom.  Judah,  said  he,  is  a  better  place  for  you ;  the  prophets 
ot  tho  Lord  get  a  good  living  there ;  there  you  can  be  quiet  and 
fulfil  your  prophetic  function,  if  so  you  choose  :  but  be  off  and  away 
from  Bethel,  for  these  idol  temples  are  the  king's  sanctuary — the 
place  where  he  worships,  and  the  house  of  his  kingdom  (so  the 


AMOS.— CHAR  VII.  145 

Hebrew  reads),  and  it  implies  that,  in  their  notion,  these  heathen 
gods  were  the  patrons  of  the  kingdom,  and  their  favor  vital  to  its 
permanence  and  prosperity.  Hence  they  would  very  naturally 
arraign  the  Lord's  true  prophets  for  high  treason,  whenever  they 
dared. 

14.  Then  answered  Amos,  and  said  to  Amaziah,  I 
tods  no  prophet,  neither  was  I  a  prophet's  son ;  but  I 
was  an  herdman:  and  a  gatherer  of  sycamore  fruit : 

15.  And  the  Loed  took  me  as  I  followed  the  flock, 
and  the  Loed  said  unto  me,  Go,  prophesy  unto  my  peo- 
ple Israel. 

Amos  first  gives  his  own  personal  defence.  With  beautiful  sim- 
plicity he  replies:  " I  was  no  prophet;  I  did  not  come  up  unto  this 
profession  because  my  father  was  a  prophet  before  me  ;  but  I  was 
earning  my  bread  by  honest  labor  when  the  Lord  took  me  from 
following  the  flock,  and  said — '  Go,  prophesy  unto  my  people  Is- 
rael ' — not  JudaJi,  as  you  propose,  but  Israel.  How  could  I  do 
otherwise  than  obey  this  divine  mandate  ?  " 

16.  Eow,  therefore,  hear  thou  the  word  of  the  Loed  : 
Thou  sayest,  Prophesy  not  against  Israel,  and  drop  not 
thy  word  against  the  house  of  Isaac. 

17.  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Loed  ;  Thy  wife  shall 
be  an  harlot  in  the  city,  and  thy  sons  and  thy  daughters 
shall  fall  by  the  sword,  and  thy  land  shall  be  divided  by 
line  ;  and  thou  shalt  die  in  a  polluted  land :  and  Israel 
shall  surely  go  into  captivity  forth  of  his  land. 

The  rest  of  his  reply  comes  directly  from  the  Lord  himself. 
Thou  hast  forbidden  me  to  prophesy  against  Israel ;  for  this  impiety 
the  Lord  reveals  to  thee  thy  doom — thy  wife  a  harlot  in  the  city ; 
thy  sons  and  daughters  falling  by  the  sword ;  thy  landed  estates 
divided  by  line  to  others ;  thou  thyself  shall  die  in  a  foreign  and 
so  in  a  polluted  land,  and  the  nation  shall  be  carried  away  into  cap- 
tivity— a  fearful  warning  against  interfering  with  the  divine  mis- 
sion of  God's  faithful  prophets  ! The  Hebrews  regarded  all  other 

lands  compared  with  their  own  as  polluted.     Hence  they  naturally 

desired  to  make  their  graves  in  the  holy  land. This  captivity 

was  to  Assyria,  effected  by  Tiglath-Pileser  b.  o.  722,  or  sixty-two 
years  after  the  death  of  this  Jeroboam. 


140  AMOS.— CEAP.  Yin. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

This  chapter  opens  with  the  last  vision  in  this  series  of  four 
(vs.  1,  2),  which  is  followed  by  further  details  of  the  great  and 
damning  sins  of  the  people,  and  of  the  terrible  judgments  then  im- 
pending. 

1.  Thus  hath  the  Lord  God  shewed  unto  me :  and 
behold  a  basket  of  summer  fruit. 

2.  And  he  said,  Amos,  what  seest  thou  ?  And  I 
said,  A  basket  of  summer  fruit.  Then  said  the  Lord 
unto  me,  The  end  is  come  upon  my  people  of  Israel ;  1 
will  not  again  pass  by  them  any  more. 

Summer  fruit  ripens  quick  and  soon  decays.  The  people  had 
ripened  for  ruin,  and  their  ruin  was  near  at  hand.  The  latter  of 
these  two  ideas  seems  rather  more  prominent  than  the  former ; 
perhaps  both  are  implied.  The  special  idea  is  that  the  end  is 
come  to  the  nation  of  Israel.  God  can  pass  by  them,  sparing  them 
and  deferring  his  judgments,  no  longer. 

3.  And  the  songs  of  the  temple  shall  be  bowlings  in 
that  day,  saith  the  Lord  God  :  there  shall  he  many  dead 
bodies  in  every  place ;  they  shall  cast  them  forth  with 
silence. 

Since  the  time  of  David,  songs  had  formed  a  part  of  the  temple 
worship.  In  the  dark  and  sad  day  just  at  hand,  those  songs  should 
become  bowlings — the  wails  of  agony.     The  original  is  concise:. 

"  The  songs  of  the  temple  shall  wail  in  that  day." The  last  half 

of  the  verse  Dr.  Henderson  translates  with  graphic  power : 

"The  carcasses  are  many! 
Throw  them  out  anywhere ! 
Hush ! " 

This  is  a  close  translation  of  the  Hebrew,  except  that  the  verb 
throw  is  not  imperative,  but  indicative — "  men  do  throw  them  out 
anywhere."  The  last  word  "hush"  should  be  compared  with 
Amos  G :  10,  where  the  word  is  the  same,  and  the  sentiment  also, 
doubtless,  the  same.  Some  suppose  this  injunction  to  silence  looks 
toward  their  danger  from  the  invading  foe,  it  being  such  that  they 
could  not  bury  their  beloved  and  honored  dead  with  safety,  save  in 
secrecy  and  silence.  Perhaps  so;  but  the  passage  (6:10)  favors 
another  view,  viz.,  that  an  appalling  sense  of  the  presence  and  wrath 
of  God  awed  every  heart  into  silence. 

4.  Hear  this,  O  ye  that  swallow  up  the  needy,  even 
to  make  the  poor  of  the  land  to  fail, 


AMOS.— CHAR  VIII.  147 

5.  Saying,  "When  will  the  new  moon  be  gone,  that  we 
may  sell  corn?  and  the  sabbath,  that  we  may  set  forth 
wheat,  making  the  ephah  small,  and  the  shekel  great, 
and  falsifying  the  balances  by  deceit  ? 

6.  That  we  may  buy  the  poor  for  silver,  and  the 
needy  for  a  pair  of  shoes ;  yea,  and  sell  the  refuse  of  the 
wheat  % 

The  guilty  people  are  once  more  exhorted  to  hear  the  threat- 
ened judgments  of  the  Almighty,  and  the  recital  of  those  judgments 
is  prefaced  by  a  further  description  of  their  oppressions  of  the  poor. 
In  this  passage,  as  in  2  :  6-8,  these  oppressions  stand  as  the  crown- 
ing, damning  sin— that  which  filled  to  the  brim  the  cup  of  their 

iniquity. "Swallow  up  the' needy,"  exhibits  the  same  verb  that 

is  rendered  (chap.  2:7)  "  that  pant  after  the  dust  of  the  earth  on 
the  head  of  the  poor."  It  might  more  precisely  be  rendered  here — 
"  that  pant  after  the  poor,"  even  to  make  the  needy  of  the  land  cease 

altogether,  i.  <?.,  to  annihilate  them  so  that  none  should  remain. 

So  eager  are  they  to  drive  hard  bargains,  and  wrest  from  the  poor 
the  last  pittance  of  their  earnings,  they  cannot  wait  for  the  new 
moon  and  for  the  Sabbath  to  pass  over— so  would  they  hurry  off 
their  religious  duties  to  get  back  again  to  their  extortion  and  fraud. 
Their  religion  stood  in  the  way  of  their  sin  in  no  other  respect  than 
that  it  demanded  a  few  hours'  suspension  of  trade  and  business.  It 
utterly  failed  of  its  proper  influence,  viz.,  to  make  their  heart 
thoroughly  benevolent,  and,  consequently,  their  business-life  just. 

It    would  seem  that  these  tradesmen  bought  by  the  shekel 

and  sold  by  the  ephah.  So  they  perverted  their  measures  and 
weights  to  subserve  the  ends  of  fraud.     They  made  false  balances 

for  deceit. Yet  further,  they  drive  their  fraudulent  trade  to  get 

money  in  order  to  buy  the  poor  for  slaves,  cheapening  even  their 
price,  so  that  they  could  get  a  poor  man  or  a  poor  boy  for  a  pair  of 

sandals,  which  are  of  much  less  value  than  American  shoes. 

And  one  thing  more,  they  sell  as  merchantable  the  refuse  of  the 

wheat— the  light,  half-filled  grains. What  a  depth  of  corruption 

in  morals  do  such  sketches  of  the  ways  of  business  and  trade  re- 
veal !  The  reader  will  be  careful  to  note  how  sharply  the  Lord 
rebukes  and  exposes  such  outrages  on  human  rights  and  on  com- 
mercial justice,  and  how  fearfully  he  punishes  the  guilty. 

7.  The  Loed  hath  sworn  by  the  excellency  of  Jacob, 
Surely  I  will  never  forget  any  of  their  works. 

Here  begins  the  message  which  (in  v.  4.)  the  people  were  ex- 
horted to  hear.  It  opens  with  a  most  solemn  asseveration,  the  oath 
of  the  Almighty.  "  The  excellency  of  Jacob  "  cannot  well  mean 
here  any  quality  or  thing  that  Jacob  possessed— not  his  moral 
qualities,  not  his  goodly  land — but  it  must  refer  to  and  describe 
Jehovah  himself.     lie  was  "  the  excellency  of  Jacob  "  in  the  sense 


148  AMOS.— CHAP.  VIII. 

of  "being  Lis  most  glorious  "portion,"  his  richest  treasure;  that  in 
which  Jacob  should  more  exult  and  rejoice  than  in  all  things  else. 

Comparing  this  passage  with  Amos  G :  8,  where  the  Lord  says, 

"  I  abhor  the  excellency  of  Jacob,"  the  difference  is  that  there 
the  phrase  refers  to  the  glorious  land  and  country  of  Jacob  which 
the  people  did  account  their  chief  glory,  as  they  should  not ;  here, 
to  their  covenant-keeping  God  whom  they  ought  to  have  ac- 
counted their  chief  glory,  but  did  not.  The  object  in  using  this 
one  phrase  in  these  two  different  senses  may  have  been  to  make  this 

contrast  palpable. It  is  by  no  means  uncommon  for  Jehovah  to 

swear  by  himself.  Paul  (Heb.  6  :  13)  intimates  the  reason  to  be 
that  he  can  swear  by  none  greater — by  nothing  else  so  solemn. 

As  to  the  form  of  this  oath,  it  is  very  common  in  Hebrew, 

but  not  often  retained  in  our  English  translation  :  "  If  I  shall  ever 
forget  any  of  their  works  " — where  the  full  force  would  be  express- 
ed by  filling  out  the  sentence — then  I  am  not  God.  A  very  strong 
emphasis  on  the  word  if  suffices,  however,  to  express  the  sense".  God 
will  not  lose  from  his  memory  one  of  the  least  of  all  their  doings. 
All  shall  come  up  again  for  judgment. 

8.  Shall  not  the  land  tremble  for  this,  and  every  one 
mourn  that  dwelleth  therein  ?  and  it  shall  rise  up  wholly 
as  a  flood ;  and  it  shall  be  cast  out  and  drowned,  as  by 
the  flood  of  Egypt. 

The  tone  of  awful  earnestness,  manifest  in  this  oath  of  Jehovah, 
should  lead  us  to  expect  appalling  judgments,  in  hearing  which,  all 
ears  should  tingle.  The  prophet  compares  the  convulsions  that 
shall  shake  the  land  to  an  earthquake,  and  represents  this  earth- 
quake as  heaving  up  the  land,  even  as  the  Kile  lifts  up  its  waters 
-in  its  annual  inundations.  The  verse  might  be  paraphrased  thus  : 
"For  this,  shall  not  the  land  tremble  as  in  an  earthquake,  and 
every  dweller  therein  mourn,  when  the  whole  land  rises  up  as  the 
Nile,  and  rolls  to  and  fro,  and  then  subsides  like  the  river  of  Egypt 

after  its  mighty  inundations  ?  " Of  the   two    words   rendered 

"cast  out,"  and  "drowned,"  the  first  must  mean,  driven  and 
tossed,  as  impelled  by  mighty  forces;  and  the  second,  subsiding 
again,  when  the  moving  force  is  spent.  The  ultimate  thought  is, 
that  convulsions  shake  and  rock  the  kingdom  of  Israel,  and  finally 
sweep  it  away  into  the  gulf  of  ruin.. 

9.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  saith  the 
Lord  God,  that  I  will  cause  the  sun  to  go  down  at  noon, 
and  I  will  darken  the  earth  in  the  clear  day  : 

This  is  the  usual  figure  for  great  calamity.  The  last  clause 
reads  literally — "I  will  darken  the  light  to  the  earth  in  the  day- 
time." The  actual  thing  indicated  by  these  figures  should  not  be 
looked  for  in  the  natural  but  in  the  political  and  moral  world. 
(See  Joel  3:15  and  2:  31.) 


AMOS.— CHAR  VIII.  149 

10.  And  I  will  turn  your  feasts  into  mourning,  and 
all  your  songs  into  lamentation ;  and  I  will  bring  up 
sackcloth  upon  all  loins,  and  baldness  upon  every  bead ; 
and  I  will  make  it  as  the  mourning  of  an  only  son,  and 
the  end  thereof  as  a  bitter  day. 

These  are  the  tokens  of  grief  common  among  the  people  of  the 
East  in  all  ages. 

11.  Behold,  the  days  come,  earth  the  Lord  God,  that 
I  will  send  a  famine  in  the  land,  not  a  famine  of  bread, 
nor  a  thirst  for  water,  but  of  hearing  the  words  of  the 
Lord: 

12.  And  they  shall  wander  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from 
the  north  even  to  the  east ;  they  shall  run  to  and  fro  to 
seek  the  word  of  the  Loud,  and  shall  not  find  it. 

13.  In  that  day  shall  the  fair  virgins  and  young  men 
faint  for  thirst. 

In  their  deep  calamity,  their  ideas  and  feelings  in  regard  to 
messages  from  the  Lord  by  his  servants,  will  utterly  change.  Whereas 
they  had  made  light  of  these  messages  when  they  had  them— even 
scorning  the  word  of  God  and  misusing  his  prophets — now,  the 
Lord  having  withdrawn  and  trouble  having  come  on,  they  are  in 
the  horrors  of  a  great  famine  of  the  words  of  the  Lord.  They  long 
for  some  word  from  him,  and  wander  over  the  whole  land  in  vain 
to  find  a  prophet.  Like  Saul  after  the  Lord  had  forsaken  him, 
they  say — "  I  am  sore  distressed ;  God  is  departed  from  me,-  and 
answereth    me  no  more,   neither  by  prophet    nor  by  dreams" 

(1  Sam.  28  :  15). This  was  one  of  the  prophet's  last  appeals  to 

the 'people  to  give  heed  to  the  words  of  the  Lord  while  they  had 
them. 

14.  They  that  swear  by  the  sin  of  Samaria,  and  say, 
Thy  god,  O  Dan,  liveth ;  and,  The  manner  of  Beer-sheba 
liveth ;  even  they  shall  fall,  and  never  rise  up  again. 

The  "  sin  of  Samaria "  is  here  idol  gods.  One  of  Jeroboam's 
calves  was  put  up  in  Dan,  the  extreme  northern  limit  of  the  king- 
dom.  The  "  manner  of  Beersheba  "  means  first  the  ways  of  idol 

worship  practised  there,  and  next,  the  idol  gods  themselves,  which 
is  the  sense  here. The  form  of  the  oath  might  be  better  ex- 
pressed—"  As  thy  God,  0  Dan,  liveth;"  or,  u  By  the  life  of  thy 

god,  0  Dan  ;"  and  so  of  the  god  Beersheba. All  who  have  had 

such  reverence  for  these  infamous  gods  as  to  swear  by  them  shall 
fall,  never  to  rise  again. 


150  AMOS.— CHAP.  IX. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

This  chapter  opens  with  the  fifth  and  last  special  vision  shown 
the  prophet:  affirms  the  complete  destruction  of  the  guilty,  apos- 
tate people  of  Israel ;  denies  in  vivid  forms  all  possibility  of  their 
escape  (vs.  1-7,  10),  yet  promises  the  rescue  of  a  small  remnant  (vs. 
8,  9) ;  predicts  the  raising  up  of  the  fallen  tent  of  David,  and  the 
saving  of  the  true  Israel  for  an  era  of  extraordinary  and  long-con- 
tinued prosperity. 

1.  I  saw  the  Lord  standing  upon  the  altar :  and  he 
said,  Smite  the  lintel  of  the  door,  that  the  posts  may 
shake :  and  cut  them  in  the  head  all  of  them ;  and  I 
will  slay  the  last  of  them  with  the  sword:  he  thatfleeth 
of  them  shall  not  flee  away,  and  he  that  escapeth  of 
them  shall  not  he  delivered. 

In  the  outset,  a  question  arises  respecting  the  altar  referred  to 
here,  the  decision  of  which  affects  the  interpretation  of  the  chapter 

fundamentally. Some,  with  Dr.  Henderson,  take  it  to  be  the 

idol  altar  at  Bethel,  and  adduce  the  following  reasons  for  this  view  : 
(1.)  The  reference  (8 :  14),  immediately  preceding,  to  the  utter  and 
final  fall  of  the  Avorshippers  of  those  idols,  showing  that  this  sub- 
ject was  in  mind;  (2.)  That  Amos  (3  :  14)  affirms  this  very  thing — 
"  In  the  day  that  I  shall  visit  the  transgressions  of  Israel  upon 
him,  I  will  also  visit  the  altars  of  Bethel,  and  the  horns  of 
the  altar  shall  be  cut  off  and  fall  to  the  ground;"  (3.)  The  fit- 
ness of  this  fact  in  itself,  and  in  all  its  relations;  (4.)  That 
Hosea,  under  the  same  circumstances,  distinctly  predicts  that 
God  will  break  down  those  altars  and  spoil  their  images  (IIos.  10 : 

2,  5,  8). Others,  including  Dr.  Hengstenberg,  Eoscumuller,  and 

Calvin,  take  it  to  mean  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  at  Jerusalem.  I 
adopt  this  opinion  decidedly,  for  the  following  reasons:  (1.)  This, 
and  this  only,  is  the  altar — the  one  to  be  thought  of  when  we  have 
nothing  else  to  determine  the  sense  except  this  emphatic  definite 
article.  (2.)  The  idol  altar  was  not,  to  the  same  extent,  the  promi- 
nent thing  at  Bethel.  The  calf,  the  god  himself,  was  much  more 
prominent.  (3.)  The  scope  of  this  chapter,  and  more  especially 
from  v.  8  to  the  close,  contemplates  Judah  and  Jerusalem,  as  well 
as  Samaria,  Bethel,  and  the  northern  kingdom  ;  e.  g.,  v.  7,  "  brought 
up  Israel  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt;  "  v.  8,  "the  house  of  Jacob," 
and  v.  9,  "  the  house  of  Israel,"  who  are  spoken  of  as  "  my  people," 
v.  10;  "the  tent  of  David,"  v.  11;  "my  people  of  Israel,"  v.  14. 
(4.)  The  allusions,  v.  11,  and  especially  the  use  of  the  plural  num- 
ber, are  thought  to  refer  to  both  kingdoms:  "In  that  day  will  I 
raise  up  the  tent  of  David  that  is  fallen  (looking,  perhaps,  in  part  to 
the  crushing  down  of  the  temple,  as  in  this  v.  1),  and  will  wall  up 


AMOS.— CHAP.  IX.  151 

their  (not  its)  breaches  " — the  breaches  of  both  kingdoms,  and  "  I 
will  raise  up  his  ruins,"  those  of  David,  and  "  I  will  build  it  " — the 

tent — "as  in  days  of  old." The  two  points  of  argument  last 

made  (ISTos.  3  and  4)  offset  the  consideration  that  most  of  the  book 
of  Amos  relates  to  the  northern  kingdom.  That  is  freely  admitted, 
yet  when  the  Lord  reaches,  in  this  last  chapter,  the  revelations  of 
mercy,  the  phraseology  embraces  the  southern  as  well  as  the  north- 
ern kingdom;  or  rather  that  temporary  distinction  is  lost  sight  of, 
and  we  have  the  earlier  Israel  of  the  times  of  the  Exodus  and  of 
David.  In  this  point  of  view  we  go  back  also  to  the  great  altar  at 
Jerusalem.  (5.)  But  more  than  all  is  the  argument  from  the  scope 
and  course  of  thought.  To  see  this  in  its  full  force,  we  must  look 
first  nt  the  fact  that  the  people  of  the  northern  kingdom,  though 
fearfully  apostate  from  God  into  idol-worship,  yet  kept  up  some  of 
the  forms  of  the  Mosaic  system,  and  manifestly  depended  upon 
God's  protection  and  favor  on  this  account.  See  the  evidence,  chap. 
4 :  4,  5  :  "  Bring  your  sacrifices  every  morning,  your  tithes  alter 
three  years,  your  thank-offerings  and  your  free-offerings  " — where 
the  sense  is,  Bring  them  if  you  will,  and  rely  on  them  for  salvation 
if  you  will;  they  can  avail  you  nothing.  Also  5:14,  18-2G: 
"Seek  good  and  not  evil;  so  the  Lord  shall  be  with  you  as  ye  Jiare 
said;  "  i.  e.,  they  had  said  the  Lord  would  be  with  them,  because  of 
their  religious  worship.  The  prophet  replies,  "  God  will  be  with 
you  then,  and  only  then,  when  you  seek  good  and  do  right."  V. 
18  shows  that  they  did  not  fear  but  even  dared  the  coming  of  the 
day  of  the  Lord — manifestly  through  their  vain  confidence  in  his 
favor.  Hence  he  solemnly  affirms,  "  I  hate,  I  despise  your  femst- 
days;  I  will  not  accept  your  burnt-offerings,"  &c.  The  whole  con- 
nection here  shows  that  the  Lord  would  fain  annul  their  vain  reli- 
ance on  the  mere  forms  of  ceremonial  worship  for  the  salvation  of 
their  country. 

"With  this  fact  in  mind,  let  us  come  to  our  verse  (0:1).  I  para- 
phrase it  thus :  "  I  saw  the  Lord  standing  beside  the  great  altar  of 
burnt-offering  in  Jerusalem,  and  he  said,  l  Smite  the  capitals  of  the 
columns,  and  make  the  very  thresholds  tremble,  and  dash  them  in 
pieces  upon  the  heads  of  all  the  people  within,  and  the  remnant  of 
them  I  will  slay  with  the  sword ;  whoever  flees  shall  not  escape, 

and  he  that  gets  away  shall  not  be  finally  delivered.'  " In  this 

vision  the  people  are  supposed  to  be  assembled  in  the  temple  for 
safety  against  the  judgments  of  God,  but  he  comes  down  with  his 
destroying  angel  and  orders  the  whole  temple  to  be  crushed  down 
from  pinnacle  to  basement,  that  it  may  fall  crashing  upon  the  heads 
of  the  assembled  throug.     Then,  whom  the  falling  temple  does  not 

crush,  the  sword  shall  slay,  and  none  shall  escape. The  context 

in  the  next  three  verses  confirms  this  view  of  the  general  course 
of  thought  in  this  passage,  as  we  shall  see. 

This  vision  of  the  temple  crushed  down  upon  the  heads  of  those 
who  had  fled  to  it  for  refuge  against  the  judgments  of  God,  is  alto- 
gether in  harmony  with  Amos  G :  8 : — "  The  Lord  hath  sworn  by 


152  AMOS.— CEAP.  IX. 

himself,  I  abhor  the  excellency  of  Jacob,  and  hate  his  palaces." 
See  Notes  on  the  passage.  The  whole  heart  of  the  Holy  One 
revolts  at  the  idea  that  his  temple  should  be  made  a  hiding-place 
and  sanctuary  of  refuge  for  hypocrites  so  foul,  apostates  so  guilty 
and  so  Heaven-provoking ;  and  as  he  abhors  their  goodly  land 
because  of  the  sins  of  the  people,  aud  will  not  spare  it  for  its 
natural  beauty,  so  neither  will  he  spare  its  goodly  temple. 

2.  Tliongli  they  dig  into  hell,  thence  shall  mine  hand 
take  them  ;  though  they  climb  up  to  heaven,  thence  will 
I  bring  them  down  : 

3.  And  though  they  hide  themselves  in  the  top  of 
Carmel,  I  will  search  and  take  them  out  thence ;  and 
though  they  be  hid  from  my  sight  in  the  bottom  of  the 
sea,  thence  will  I  command  the  serpent,  and  he  shall 
bite  them : 

4.  And  though  they  go  into  captivity  before  their 
enemies,  thence  will  I  command  the  sword,  and  it  shall 
slay  them :  and  I  will  set  mine  eyes  upon  them  for  evil, 
and  not  for  good. 

The  aim  throughout  these  verses  is  to  deny  all  possibility  of 

escape. It  is  not  essential  to  the  fitness  or  the  force  of  these 

supposed  cases  that  they  should  be  actually  possible.  The  affirma- 
tion is  that  if  they  were  so,  and  ?/ men  should  hide  there,  it  should 
avail  them  nothing.  There  is  no  escape  from  the  Almighty  by  any 
expedient,  possible  or  even  supposable.  "  The  top  of  Carmel  "  is 
suggested  as  a  place  to  hide  one's  self,  both  because  of  its  numerous 
caves  and  thick  undergrowths,  and  because,  lying  adjacent  to  the 
Mediterranean,  it  naturally  stood  in  contrast  with  the  bottom  of  the 

sea. "  Going  into  captivity  "  presupposes  that  their  lives  are  at 

first  spared ;  but  even  the  rights  of  prisoners  of  war  should  not  save 
them  from  death. 

5.  And  the  Lord  God  of  hosts  is  he  that  toncheth  the 
land,  and  it  shall  melt,  and  all  that  dwell  therein  shall 
mourn  :  and  it  shall  rise  up  wholly  like  a  flood ;  and 
be  drowned,  as  hj  the  flood  of  Egypt. 

6.  It  is  he  that  bnildeth  his  stories  in  the  heaven, 
and  hath  founded  his  troop  in  the  earth  ;  he  that  calleth 
for  the  waters  of  the  sea,  and  poureth  them  out  upon  the 
face  of  the  earth  :  the  Lord  is  his  name. 

These  bold  descriptions  of  Jehovah's  power  over  the  material 
world  are  adduced  here  in  the  same  line  of  thought  with  the  pre- 
ceding— to  show  how  hopelessly  futile  must  be  every  attempt,  of 
guilty  men  to  evade  his  scourge  or  escape  his  retributions.     The 


AMOS.— CHAP.  IX.  153 

manner  of  the  original  is  graphic :  "  And  the  Lord  Jehovah  of 
Hosts — he  is  touching  the  earth,  and  then  it  melts,  and  all  the 
dwellers  in  it  mourn  ;  its  whole  surface  is  lifted  up  like  the  rising 
Nile,  and  then  subsides  as  the  river  of  Egypt  (the  effects  of  an 
earthquake,  as  in  Amos  8 :  8).  He  builds  his  chambers  in  the 
heavens ;  he  has  founded  his  arched  vault  upon  the  earth  (i.  e.  the 
blue  concave  firmament).  He  calls  for  the  waters  of  the  sea,  and 
then   pours  them  out  upon  the  face  of  the  earth — Jehovah,  his 

name." What  our  translators  meant  by  "troop"  is  not  clear. 

The  original  word  refers  to  the  apparently  arched  concave  above  us, 
which  the  Hebrews  thought  and  spoke  of  as  solid,  "  the  firmament," 
and  its  pillars  or  lower  edges  as  resting  upon  the  earth. 

7.  Are  ye  not  as  children  of  the  Ethiopians  unto  me, 
O  children  of  Israel?  saith  the  Loed.  Have  I  not 
brought  np  Israel  out  of  the  land  'of  Egypt  ?  and  the 
Philistines  from  Caphtor,  and  the  Syrians  from  Kir  ? 

This  verse  aims  to  confront  and  demolish  another  delusive 
reliance  of  the  apostate  people,  viz.,  that,  being  the  seed  of  Abraham 
and  children  of  the  covenant,  brought  by  a  series  of  miracles 
into  the  land  of  promise,  they  were  invincible  against  any  heathen 

power,  since  their  God  would  surely  protect  them. The  Lord 

replies  to  their  thought — "  What  are  ye  to  me  more  than  the 
Cushites  and  Ethiopians?  I  did  indeed  bring  you  up  out  of  Egypt; 
so  I  also  brought  the  Philistines  from  Caphtor  (Crete),  and  the 
Syrians  from  Kir  " — the  region  of  the  river  Cyrus.  Does  such  a 
removal  insure  the  perpetual  prosperity  of  any  people  ?  Can  it 
save  you  from  being  removed  again,  far  beyond  Damascus  ?  (See 
Amos  5  :  27.) The  Ethiopians,  or  Cushites,  originally  holding- 
central  Arabia,  were  removed  to  the  interior  of  Africa. 

8.  Behold  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  God  are  upon  the 
sinful  kingdom,  and  I  will  destroy  it  from  off  the  face 
face  of  the  earth  ;  saving  that  I  will  not  utterly  destroy 
the  house  of  Jacob,  saith  the  Loed. 

The  phrase  "  sinful  kingdom  "  leads  the  mind  to  the  kingdom 
of  the  ten  tribes,  that  being  at  this  period  far  more  corrupt  than 
Judah.  The  sentence  "I  will  destroy  it  from  the  face  of  the 
earth,"  had  special  reference  to  the  ten  tribes.  The  excepting 
clause,  "  saving  that  I  will  not  utterly  destroy  the  house  of  Jacob," 
raises  the  question  whether  the  saved  were  of  the  ten  tribes,  or  of 
Judah  only.  On  this  point,  the  statements  in  this  verse  are  not 
altogether  explicit :  v.  9  favors  the  hope  that  some  from  the  ten 
tribes  were  plucked  from  utter  ruin;  v.  10  shows  that  all  the 
tinners — all  who  were  past  repentance  and  reform — would  be  cut 
off  by  the  sword. 

9.  For,  lo,  I  will  command,  and  I  will  sift  the  house 


151  AMOS.— CHAR  IX 

of  Israel  among  all  nations,  like  as  com  is  sifted  in  a 
sieve,  yet  shall  not  the  least  grain  fall  upon  the  earth. 

It  would  seem  that  "  the  house  of  Israel,"  as  used  in  this  verse, 
must  he  a  different  class  from  "  the  sinful  kingdom,"  named  in  v. 
S,  and  from  "the  sinners  of  my  people,"  spoken  of  in  v.  10.  The 
latter,  he  says,  "  shall  be  destroyed"  (v.  8) ;  "  shall  die  by  the  sword  " 
(v.  10);  but  the  former,  though  sifted  fine  and  far  among  the 
nations,  shall  none  of  them  be  lost.  They  are  the  precious  grain, 
and  God's  eye  is  on  them  to  save  them  and  to  use  them  for  his  own 
purpose,  as  his  eye  is  also  on  the  sinful  kingdom  to  destroy  it  from 
the  face  of  the  earth.  The  "house  of  Israel,"  therefore,  must  in- 
clude here  only  the  real  people  of  God,  "  faithful  found  among  the 
faithless;"  the  same  whom,  considered  as  captives,  he  will  restore, 

as  said  below. The  word  rendered  "  the  least  grain  "  is  thought 

by  Hengstenberg  to  mean  a  bundle,  or  any  thing  bound  up.  This 
is  the  almost  universal  sense  of  the  word.  Its  meaning  here 
would  be  essentially  as  in  1  Sam.  25  :  29  :  "  Hen  rise  up  to  per- 
secute and  to  seek  thy  soul ;  but  the  soul  of  my  Lord  is  bound 
in  the  bundle  of  the  living  by  the  Lord  thy  God."  So  in  our 
passage  with  this  sense  of  the  word,  the  house  of  Israel  are  bound 
up  in  the  bundle  of  life  by  the  Lord  himself,  and  cannot  be  lost  in 
the  sifting  process  of  discipline  by  dispersion  among  the  nations. 

If  we  might  give  the  word  the    sense — a  small   grain — the 

ultimate  meaning  would  be  much  the  same. 

10.  All  the  sinners  of  my  people  shall  die  by  the 
sword,  which  say,  The  evil  shall  not  overtake  or  prevent 
ns. 

The  sense  here  must  be — "All  the  sinners  out  of  or  among  my 
people" — the  sinners  being  one  class  and  God's  people  another. 
The  sinners  shall  die — the  judgment  of  God  being  the  fearfully 

sifting  process. The  description  given  of  them  evinces  their  vain 

self-confidence.  The  evils  threatened  by  the  prophets  of  the  Lord, 
they  are  sure,  will  neither  overtake  them  from  behind,  nor  come  in 
ahead  of  them  from  before.  "Prevent"  has  usually  in  our  Bible 
that  ancient,  now  obsolete  sense,  of  getting  in  advance,  coming  in 
ahead  to  intercept  and  confront  an  adversary. Vain  self-confi- 
dence never  saves  ;  it  only  hastens  and  aggravates  destruction. 

11.  In  that  day  will  I  raise  up  the  tabernacle  of 
David  that  is  fallen,  and  close  up  the  breaches  thereof; 
and  I  will  raise  up  his  ruins,  and  I  will  build  it  as  in 
the  days  of  old : 

The  point  of  time  indicated  by  "  in  that  day,"  is  not  definite.  It 
looks  into  that  future  period  when  disci] >line  shall  have  wrought  its 
desired  result  and  the  fulness  of  the  Lord's  time  of  mercy  shall 

have  come. The  "tent"  or  booth  "of  David  "—not  his  royal 

palace,   which   would   indicate   prosperity  and    strength—but  his 


AMOS.— CHAP.  IX.  155 

reduced  and  humble  dwelling,  a  booth  of  tree-boughs,  and  even  this 
fallen  down,  God  will  now  raise  up.  The  reigning  family  of  David 
had  been  sadly  broken  down  by  the  revolt  under  Jeroboam ;  far 
more  so  still  by  their  apostasy  into  idol-worship,  oppression,  and 
other  immoralities,  for  all  which  God  had  doomed  the  sinners 
of  his  people  to  be  utterly  cut  off;  but  the  day  will  come  for  rear- 
ing up  again  this  royal  line  and  its  kingdom.  He  will  wall  up  the 
breaches  of  the  "  double  house,"  the  two  kingdoms  (for  so  the 
plural  pronoun,  rendered  "thereof,"  should  naturally  mean):  "I 
will  raise  up  David's  ruins  and  build  his  tent  as  in  days  of  old." 
These  promises  suggest  the  original  covenant  with  David's  line  (2 
Sam.  7  :  1G).  "  And  thy  house  and  thy  kingdom  shall  be  established 
forever  before  thee;  thy  throne  shall  be  established  forever."  King 
Messiah  is  to  come  in  this  royal  line,  and,  according  to  the  strain  of 
this  prophecy,  events  ripen  for  his  coming.  Only  in  him  can  this 
prophecy  find  an  adequate  fulfilment. 

12.  That  they  may  possess  the  remnant  of  Edom, 
and  of  all  the  heathen  which  are  called  "by  my  name, 
saith  the  Lord  that  doetli  this. 

The  "remnant  of  Edom  "  reminds  us  that  in  chap.  1 :  11, 12,  we 
saw  Edom  doomed  to  sore  judgments,  almost  exterminating,  be- 
cause of  his  relentless  hostility  to  his  brother  Jacob's  race.  Now 
the  revived  and  rebuilt  house  of  David  shall  possess  what  is  left  of 
Edom.  There  may  also  be  a  tacit  allusion  to  the  fact  that  the 
literal  David  himself  subdued  the  Edomites  and  made  them  tributary, 
and  that  they  took  advantage  of  the  breaches  in  David's  tents — in 
other  words,  the  weakness  induced  by  the  revolt  and  by  the  great 
sins  of  the  covenant  people — to  throw  off  this  yoke.  David's  line, 
having  returned  to  God  and  to  consequent  prosperity  and  power, 
shall  again  possess  what  remains  of  Edom.  And  not  of  Edom 
alone,  but  of  all  the  heathen  over  whom  God's  naine  is  called,  for 

so  saith  the  Lord  who  bringeth  to  pass  these  promised  events. 

The  calling  of  God's  name  over  a  person  or  people  is  not  an  empty 
ceremony,  but  a  most  significant  fact.  It  implies  their  consecration 
to  his  love  and  service.  Thus  it  was  said  concerning  Israel — Deut. 
28  :  9,  K) :  "The Lord  shall  establish  thee  an  holy  people  unto  him- 
self," &c,  "and  all  people  of  the  earth  shall  see  that  thou  art 
called  by  the  name  of  the  Lord,"  literally  rendered,  "that  the  name 
of  the  Lord  hath  been  called  over  or  upon  thee,"  and  consequently 
that  thou  art  the  people  of  God,  and  the  object  of  his  protecting 
care  and  love.  To  the  same  purport  is  Dan.  9  :  18,  19,  "  O  Lord, 
behold  the  city  over  which  thy  name  is  called" — "for  thy  city  and 

thy  people  are  called  by  thy  name." In  this  most  interesting 

sense  God's  name  has  been  called  over  the  gentile  nations.  This  is 
the  great  fact  affirmed  in  this  passage.  May  it  not  be  that  Isaiah, 
in  nearly  the  same  words,  means  the  same  thing  (54:5)?  "The 
God  of  the  whole  earth  shall  he  be  called,"  i.  c,  "his  name  shall  be 
called  over  or  upon  it  all." Another  mode  of  expressing  essen- 


156  AMOS.— CHAP.  IX. 

tially  the  same  tiling  is  this — "  They  " — the  royal  seed  of  David 
— "shall  possess"  (inherit)  "the  remnant  of  Edom  and  of  all 
the  heathen."     Precisely  this  Isaiah  affirms — "  Thy  seed  shall  inherit 

the  Gentiles  "  (54 :  3). Yet  further,  let  us  not  lose  sight  of  the 

idea  that  this  calling  of  the  name  of  God  over  these  heathen 
nations,  and  this  inheriting  or  possession  of  the  Gentiles  by  the 
royal  seed  of  David,  must  all  he  understood,  not  in  the  worldly  but 
in  the  gospel  sense.  Israel  takes  possession  of  the  gentile  nations, 
only  in  the  name  of  her  King  Messiah  ;  only  by  preaching  to  them 
his  gospel,  revealing  to  them  his  love,  and  taking  their  hearts  captive 
for  him  by  the  power  of  his  cross.     We  must  think  of  no  other 

conquest,  no  other  form  of  possession,  but  this. Finally,  let  us 

revert  to  the  quotation  of  these  verses  (11,  12)  by  the  Apostle 
James  (Acts  15  :  14-17)  in  his  speech  before  the  great  council  at  Je- 
rusalem. He  began  with  saying,  "  Simon  Peter  has  been  relating 
to  you  how  God  has  visited  the  Gentiles  to  convert  some  of  them 
to  himself;  and  to  this  agree  the  words  of  the  prophet  Amos ;" 
and  then  he  quotes  substantially  from  the  Septuagint  version  these 
two  verses.  His  quotations  differ  from  the  Hebrew  chiefly  in  read- 
ing "the  residue  of  men,"  instead  of  "the  remnant  of  Edom." 
The  Hebrew  reader  will  readily  see  the  resemblance  between 
"Edom"  and  "Adam" — which  was  specially  close  when  the 
Hebrew  was  written  without  the  vowels.  Yet  James  gives  the 
general  sense  with  entire  accuracy,  viz.,  that  God  had  of  set  pur- 
pose called  the  Gentiles  within  the  pale  of  his  church,  to  inherit 
in  it  among  his  people. 

13.  Behold,  tlie  days  come,  saith  the  Loud,  that  the 
ploughman  shall  overtake  the  reaper,  and  the  treacler 
of  grapes  him  that  sovreth  seed ;  and  the  mountains 
shall  drop  sweet  wine,  and  all  the  hills  shall  melt. 

14.  And  I  will  bring  again  the  captivity  of  my  peo- 
ple of  Israel,  and  they  "shall  build  the  waste  cities,  and 
inhabit  them;  and  they  shall  plant  vineyards,  and  drink 
the  wine  thereof;  they  shall  also  make  gardens,  and  eat 
the  frnit  of  them. 

15.  And  I  will  plant  them  upon  their  land,  and  they 
shall  no  more  be  pulled  np  out  of  their  land  which  I 
have  given  them,  saith  the  Lord  thy  God. 

Here  let  us  first  note  the  sense  of  particular  words  and  phrases. 
"  Days  come,"  looks  forward  to  the  remote  and  indefinite  fu- 
ture. The  manner  of  calling  attention  to  the  matters  revealed  in 
these  last  three  verses,  "  Beliold"  coupled  with  the  change  from 
"in  that  day"  (v.  11),  to  "  days  come"  (v.  13),  imply  that  these  lat- 
ter events  lie  onward  in  the  future,  beyond  those  recorded  (vs.  11, 

12). "  The  ploughman  overtaking  the  reaper,"  &c,  implies  great 

prosperity  and  abundance.     The  reaper  will  have  so  much  to  do, 


AMOS.— CHAP.  IX.  157 

and  the  ploughman  withal  is  so  eager  to  get  in  readiness  a  large 
field,  that  he  treads  on  the  heels  of  the  reaper.  The  mountains 
terraced  and  cultivated  in  grapes  to  their  summits  shall  seem  to  dis- 
til new  Avine.  It  flows  down  their  declivities  as  if  the  mountains 
themselves  were  becoming  liquid.  To  "  bring  again  their  captiv- 
ity "  always  implies  good  and  not_evil — promised  blessings  and  not 
threatened  calamities.  It  is 'also  ""used  in  a  broader  and  more  gen- 
eral sense  than  that  of  bringing  captives  home  to  their  own  land,  i 
How  this  came  to  pass  may  be  seen  in  the  history  of  the  Hebrews 
as  related  to  Canaan.  In  all  those  ages  of  promise,  prior  to  their 
possession  of  Canaan  under  Joshua,  "  to  inherit  the  land,"  to  pos- 
sess the  land  of  promise,  was  the  consummation  of  hope,  the  thing 
of  most  earnest  desire.  "  The  meek  shall  inherit  the  land,"  shows  V 
the  significance  of  this  phraseology. In  later  times,  after  cap- 
tivity in  foreign  lands  had  been  their  sad  experience,  the  phrases 
"  bring  again  their  captivity,"  and  "  plant  them  again  in  their  own 
land,"  superseded  the  former  phrase  in  a  like  sense  of  general  pros- 
perity. Cases  that  both  illustrate  and  prove  this  figurative  use  of 
the  phrase  "  to  bring  or  tarn  again  the  captivity,"  may  be  seen 
(Job  42  :  10),  "  And  the  Lord  turned  the  captivity  of  Job,"  but  Job 
had  been  in  no  captivity  in  the  literal  sense.  The  Lord  changed 
his  state  by  a  change  analogous  to  that  from  bondage  to  freedom.  * 
Also  Ezek.  16  :  53,  55,  "When  I  shall  bring  again  the  captivity  of 
Sodom  and  her  daughters,"  &c,  but  the  trouble  with  Sodom  was 
not  a  real  captivity.  This  term  is  used  here  figuratively  for  another 
calamity  worse  than  that.  The  precise  sense  of  the  phrase  is  given 
in  a  clause  explanatory  (v.  55),  "  When  thy  sister  Sodom  and  her 
daughters  shall  return  to  their  former  estate."  These  cases  will 
suffice  to  establish  the  usage  which  I  have  assumed. Let  us  be- 
ware lest  we  stop  in  the  letter  and  miss  the  spirit  of  this  prophecy. 
So  doing,  we  shall  find  in  it  only  a  Mohammedan  paradise,  and  God 
surely  intended  something  far  richer  and  better  than  that.  We 
shall  greatly  err  if  in  reading  this  passage  we  think  only  of  great 
harvests,  hills  running  down  with  wine,  and  the  people  of  Israel 
restored  again  and  forevermore  to  Palestine.  The  construction  we 
are  compelled  to  put  on  the  two  verses  next  preceding  forbids  this. 
The  sense  given  to  those  verses  by  the  Apostle  James,  viz.,  the  call- 
ing of  the  Gentiles  into  the  gospel  faith,  forbids  it.  It  would  be  a 
sad  falling  off  if,  borne  along  by  the  whole  current  of  thought  in 
this  ninth  chapter,  and  especially  in  verses  11,  12,  we  should  begin 
to  rejoice  in  the  glory  of  gospel  salvation,  spreading  widely  over 
all  the  Gentile  world,  and  then,  in  these  last  three  verses,  should 
reach  the  climax  by  dropping  down  to  Judaism,  and  find  none  but 
sensual  ideas,  luxurious  harvests,  plenty  of  good  wine,  and  the  land 
of  Palestine  held  forever  by  the  Jews.  The  current  strain  of  all 
the  gospel  prophecies  forbids  this  construction.  Amos  himself 
would  rebuke  us !  He  would  say,  How  could  you  forget  that,  be- 
ing myself  a  husbandman  from  my  youth,  I  ought  to  be  allowed  to 
draw  my  figures  and  illustrations  from  things  with  which  I  had 


158  AMOS.— CHAP.  IX. 

been  all  my  life  familiar  ?  Had  you  not  noticed  this  same  thing 
throughout  my  book  ?  And  could  you  not  learn  to  distinguish  be- 
tween the  drapery  and  the  person  clothed  in  it — between  the  cos- 
tume and  the  inward  reality  ? Yes,  thou  lovely,  venerable  prophet 

of  the  Lord,  we  will  not  torture  thy  figures  of  speech  into  sensu- 
alities that  never  came  into  thy  mind !  We  will  try  to  see  in  this 
rich  imagery  of  nature  the  glorious  and  munificent  things  of  gospel 
times.  We  will  not  impute  to  thee  the  inconsistency  of  denoun- 
cing the  woes  of  God  on  men  "  at  ease  in  Zion,"  because  they 
"  drink  wine  in  bowls  "  (6  :  6),  and  then  representing  the  saints  of 
God  as  finding  their  highest  spiritual  life  and  glory  in  vineyards, 
grapes,  and  wine ! 

I  cannot  close  this  book  of  Amos  without  a  passing  tribute  to 
his  clear,  forcible,  and  earnest  style ;  to  the  richness  of  his  figures, 
drawn  chiefly  from  the  familiar  but  often  sublimely  grand  fields  of 
nature,  and  from  the  scenes  of  husbandry ;  to  the  sublime  and  sol- 
emn grandeur  with  which  he  recites  the  significant  names  of  Je- 
hovah, God  of  hosts;  and  not  least,  to  his  warm  sympathy  with- 
the  wronged  and  outraged  poor,  and  to  Ms  intense  abhorrence  of 
the  luxury,  pride,  ostentation,  and  especially  the  oj)pressioji  which 
manifestly  was  the  crowning  and  damning  sin  of  the  leading  men 
in  the  kingdom  of  Israel.  We  shall  need  to  go  far  to  find  keener 
invectives  against  these  Heaven-provoking  sins,  or  a  more  earnest 
wielding  of  Jehovah's  thunders  against  the  oppression  of  the  poor, 
the  perversions  of  justice,  and  the  enslaving  of  men. Well,  in- 
deed, had  it  been,  if  during  the  past  hundred  years,  our  American 
churches  had  drank  deeply  of  the  spirit  of  Amos,  the  herdman- 
prophet,  and  had  given  heed  to  the  burning  words  against  oppress- 
ion which  God  spake  through  his  lips!  Then  had  our  American 
Christianity  never  stricken  hands  with  the  oppressor  !  American 
systematized  oppression  would  have  been  throttled  in  its  cradle, 
and  the  woes  of  the  great  war  of  rebellion  under  which  the  nation 

has  bled  and  groaned  need  never  have  been! It  may  be  noted 

that  Amos,  like  Hosea  and  Joel,  closes  with  an  outlook  from  the 
lofty  heights  of  the  mount  of  Vision  into  that  goodly  land  of  Prom- 
ise, yet  mostly  future,  when  "  the  earth  shall  be  full  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  Lord,"  when  his  kingdom  and  people  shall  possess  the 
world,  and  all  its  tribes  and  kingdoms  shall  become  the  kingdom  of 
our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ  that  he  may  reign  forever  and  ever. 


OBADIAH. 


INTEODUOTION. 

Of  the  author  of  this  shortest  book  in  the  Bible,  we  have  the 
briefest  possible  account.  His  name  was  Obadiah — there  the  rec- 
ord ends.  The  book  contains  historical  (not  prophetic)  allusions  to 
the  capture  and  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Chaldeans  and  the 
consequent  captivity,  and  therefore  must  have  been  written  subse- 
quent to  that  event,  yet  how  long  after  cannot  be  certainly  deter- 
mined by  any  evidence  external  or  internal.  The  tone  of  the  pas- 
sage (vs.  11-14)  implies  that  those  events  connected  with  the  fall 

of  Jerusalem  were  then  recent. The  name,  Obadiah,  meaning 

"servant  of  the  Lord,"  occurs  frequently  in  the  Hebrew  genealo- 
gies, and  several  times  in  Bible  history.  The  author  of  this  book 
was  not  the  Obadiah  who  stood  up  so  nobly  for  the  Lord  under 
that  wicked  Ahab  (1  Kings  18 :  3,  4,  7,  1G),  nor  that  other  Obadiah 
who  was  employed  by  Jehoshaphat  to  teach  religious  duty  (2  Chrou. 

IT :  7). "We  must  be  content  to  know  but  little  of  his  personal 

history. 

His  subject  is  one — a  prophecy  concerning  Edom.  The  poster- 
ity of  Esau,  otherwise  called  Edom,  founded  tins  kingdom  at  a  very 
early  period.  They  manifestly  had  their  land  under  cultivation 
before  the  Hebrews  entered  Canaan.  They  appear  repeatedly  in 
the  scenes  of  Jewish  history  during  the  reign  of  David,  and  more 
especially  after  the  revolt.  The  early  antipathy  which  brought 
Esau  out  with  four  hundred  armed  men  to  intercept  Jacob  on  his 
return  from  Padanaram  to  Canaan,  though  sometimes  kept  down 
under  the  pressure  of  conscious  inability  to  do  his  brother  harm, 


1(30  OBADIAH.— CHAP.  I. 

yet  seems  never  to  have  been  fully  suppressed.  As  said  by  Amos 
(1 :  11),  ';  he  cast  off  all  pity,  and  his  anger  did  tear  perpetually, 
and  he  nursed  his  wrath  forever."  This  enduring  hatred  seized  its 
opportunity  when  Jerusalem  fell  before  the  Chaldean  power,  and. 
broke  forth,  not  only  in  most  unfraternal  words,  but  in  most  cruel 
deeds.  This  was  the  special  occasion  of  the  prophecy  here  recorded. 
Other  prophets  have  predicted  the  fall  of  Edom,  some  of  ear- 
lier date,  e.  g.,  Isaiah  and  Joel,  and  some  contemporary,  or  of  later 
date,  e.  g.,  Jeremiah,  Ezekiel,  Malachi,  and  the  writer  of  Psalm 
1ST.  (See  Isaiah  21: 11;  and  34:  and  Joel  3  :  19,  and  Jeremiah  49  : 
7-22  (closely  parallel),  and  Ezek.  25  :  12-14,  and  Mai.  1 :  3,  4.) 


CHAPTER    I. 

1.  The  vision  of  Obacliah.  Thus  saitli  the  Lord  God 
concerning  Edom ;  We  have  heard  a  rumor  from  the 
Lord,  and  an  ambassador  is  sent  among  the  heathen, 
Arise  ye,  and  let  ns  rise  up  against  her  in  battle. 

The  Lord  commissions  his  servant  Obadiah  to  proclaim,  "We 
have  heard  from  the  Lord  a  message,  *.  e.,  a  thing  to  be  announced 
(not  a  "rumor"  in  the  sense  of  an  uncertain,  flying  report),  to  the 
effect  that  his  providential  agencies  have  summoned  the  heathen 
forth,  calling  on  them  to  arise  and  come  up  for  battle  against  Edom. 

2.  Behold,  I  have  made  thee  small  among  the 
heathen :  thou  art  greatly  despised. 

3.  The  pride  of  thine  heart  hath  deceived  thee,  thou 
that  dwellest  in  the  clefts  of  the  rock,  whose  habitation 
is  high ;  that  saitli  in  his  heart,  Who  shall  bring  me 
down  to  the  ground  ? 

4.  Though  thou  exalt  tlnjself  as  the  eagle,  and 
though  thou  set  thy  nest  among  the  stars,  thence  will  I 
bring  thee  down,  saith  the  Lord. 

The  great  men  of  Edom  had  been  proud  (we  may  suppose)  of 
the  high  antiquity  of  their  nation;  of  their  great  wealth,  their 
country  having  been  for  ages  the  thoroughfare  of  commerce  be- 
tween Egypt  and  North  Africa  on  their  southwest,  and  the  rich 
countries  of  Mesopotamia  and  India  on  the  east  and  northeast;  of 
their  eminent  progress  in  the  arts,  of  which  the  ruins  yet  remain- 
ing are  ample  proof;  and  of  their  early  knowledge  of  letters,  of 
which  the  Book  of  Job  (native  to  this  country)  is  good  testimony. 
Sir  Isaac  Newton  came  to  the  conclusion  that  Edom  was  the  nur- 


OBADIAH.— CHAP.  I.  IQ± 

sery  of  the  arts  and  sciences  for  all  the  world,  and  that  even  the 
Egyptians  received  from  them  their  earliest  knowledge  of  astron- 
omy and  of  its  use  in  navigation.  Men  of  the  world  think  and 
speak  of  pride  on  such  grounds  as  honest  and  honorable;  but,  how- 
ever this  may  be,  it  surely  cannot  atone  for  moral  obliquities,  for 
national  animosity,  jealousy,  revenge,  and  perpetual  hatred.  And 
when,  as  in  this  case,  national  pride  deceives  a  people  so  greatly  as 
to  make  them  think  they  have  nothing  to  fear  from  the  just  judg- 
ments of  God,  the  mistake  is  fearful.  This  was  the  sin  and  ruin 
of  ancient  Edom. 

The  phrase  "  Thou  that  dwellest  in  the  clefts  of  the  rock,  whose 
habitation  is  high,"  has  in  modern  times  received  a  very  striking 
confirmation  from  the  personal  visits  and  examination  made  by  a 
large  number  of  travellers — Burckhardt  among  the  earliest;  Dr. 
Edward  Robinson  among  the  most  accurate  and  reliable.  They  and 
others  have  found  on  the  site  of  ancient  Petra  a  vast  amount  of 
ruins  of  the  homes  of  both  the  living  and  the  dead,  especially  along 
the  face  of  an  immense  gorge  or  chasm,  where  the  perpendicular 
rock,  several"  hundred  feet  in  height,  was  improved  for  temples, 
sepulchres,  and  private  residences,  chiselled  from  the  rock  itself. 
The  massive  grandeur  of  these  ruins  aids  us  to  appreciate  the  de- 
scription, "  Thou  that  dwellest  in  the  clefts  of  the  rock,  whose  hab- 
itation is  high."  It  also  accounts  for  the  pride  and  vain  confidence 
felt  by  the  men  of  Edom  in  the  military  strength  of  their  fast- 
nesses, and  evinces  the  pertinence  of  the  divine  word,  "  Though 
thou  lift  thyself  high  as  the  eagle,  and  set  thy  nest  among  the  stars, 
thence  will  I  bring  thee  down."  How  vain  it  must  ever  be  for 
even  the  loftiest  and  mightiest  of  men  to  defy  the  Almighty,  or 
count  themselves  above  the  reach  of  his  retributions  ! 

5.  If  thieves  came  to  thee,  if  robbers  by  night  (how- 
art  thou  cut  off!)  would  they  not  have  stolen  till  they 
had  enough  ?  if  the  grape-gatherers  came  to  thee,  would 
they  not  leave  some  grapes  % 

6.  How  are  the  things  of  Esan  searched  out !  how 
are  his  hidden  things  sought  up  ! 

These  supposed  cases — the  thieves,  the  night-robbers,  and  the 
grape-gatherers — all  have  the  same  object,  viz.,  to  show  that  the 
spoiling  of  Esau  would  be  unsparing.  The  interjected  exclamation 
— "  How  art  thou  cut  off!  " — implies  that  the  desolation  of  Esau 
would  be  more  dire  than  that  wrought  by  thieves  and  night-rob- 
bers. The  latter,  compelled  by  fear  to  make  short  work,  are  wont  to 
seize  what  comes  first  to  hand  till  they  have  enough  for  present  want, 
or,  as  the  case  may  be,  all  they  can  carry  away  ;  and  so  may  leave 
some  valuables  behind.  Grape-gatherers  leave  gleanings.  But  Esau's 
wealth  will  be  carefully  searched  .out.     Those  who  shall  come  to 

spoil  him  will  find  all  his  hidden  stores. The  exclamation  in  v. 

6  corresponds  in  form  of  statement  precisely  to  that  thrown  into 


162  OBADIAR— CHAP.  I. 

the  middle  of  v.  5 — "  How  art  thou  cut  off!  "  The  prophet's  eye 
and  heart  were  full  of  the  sad  fate  of  so  much  wealth,  beauty,  aDd 
glory,  doomed  to  utter  desolation. 

7.  All  tlie  men  of  thy  confederacy  have  brought  thee 
even  to  the  border :  the  men  that  were  at  peace  with 
thee  have  deceived  thee,  and  prevailed  against  thee ; 
they  that  eat  thy  bread  have  laid  a  wound  under  thee : 
there  is  none  understanding  in  him. 

When  the  Lord's  time  comes  to  cast  a  mighty  nation  down,  he 
causes  all  their  friends  to  turn  against  them.  So  this  verse  affirms 
of  the  kingdom  of  Edom.  First,  all  his  allies  ("  men  of  thy  con- 
federacy"), hound  by  treaty  to  stand  or  fall  with  him,  cast  him  out 
of  their  country,  chasing  him  even  to  their  border,  as  one  turns  a 
villain  out  of  his  doors.  Next,  those  who  were  on  terms  of  peace 
and  friendship  turn  to  deceive  him,  and  prevail  against  him ;  and 
last,  even  his  dependents,  who  ate  at  his  table,  put  a  snare  under 
his  feet  to  entrap  him.  Snare  (not  "wound")  is  the  sense  of  the 
original  word  used  here. Finally,  this  utter  failure  of  all  his  re- 
liances suggests  the  remark,  "There  is  no  understanding  in  him." 
He  should  not  have  trusted  such  helpers,  and  rejected  the  Almighty 
God! 

8.  Shall  I  not  in  that  day,  saith  the  Lord,  even  de- 
stroy the  wise  men  out  of  Eclom,  and  understanding  out 
of  the  mount  of  Esau  ? 

The  closing  thought  of  the  verse  preceding  suggests  these  ques- 
tions. Edom  was  celebrated  for  her  wise  men,  and  was  proud  of 
them.  Would  not  the  Lord  in  that  day  destroy  those  great  men, 
and  cause  wisdom  to  cease  from  the  mount  of  Esau  ? 

9.  And  thy  mighty  men,  O  Teman,  shall  be  dis- 
mayed, to  the  end  that  every  one  of  the  mount  of  Esau 
may  be  cut  off  by  slaughter. 

Her  warriors  also  should  be  smitten  with  panic,  in  order  that 

the  slaughter  of  the  people  might  be  complete. "  Teman  "  was 

the  name  of  a  city  and  region  in  the  eastern  part  of  Idumea.  Per- 
haps it  was  celebrated  for  its  courage  and  prowess  in  war. 

10.  For  thy  violence  against  thy  brother  Jacob, 
shame  shall  come  over  thee,  and  thou  shalt  be  cut  off 
for  ever. 

The  discourse  turns  here  from  the  destruction  of  Edom  to  those 
sins  which  were  its  special  cause.  These  sius  were  their  violence 
and  outrages  against  the  posterity  of  Jacob,  their  brother.  For  this 
they  should  be  ashamed  and  confounded ;  and  for  this  the  nation 
should  ultimately  be  cut  off  forever.      These  two  inflictions  would 


OBADIAH.  1(33 

be  distinct,  and  might  be  somewhat  widely  separated  in  time.  The 
form  of  the  prophetic  statement  admits  this  distinction ;  the  facts 
of  history  fultilled  it.  The  shameful  defeat  came  from  the  hand  of 
Nebuchadnezzar ;  the  final  overthrow  was  postponed  into  the  early 
ages  of  the  Christian  era. 

11.  Iii  the  day  that  thou  stoodest  on  the  other  side, 
in  the  day  that  the  strangers  carried  away  captive  his 
forces,  and  foreigners  entered  into  his  gates,  and  cast 
lots  upon  Jerusalem,  even  thou  toast  as  one  of  them. 

12.  But  thou  shouldest  not  have  looked  on  the  day 
of  thy  brother  in  the  day  that  he  became  a  stranger ; 
neither  shouldest  thou  have  rejoiced  over  the  children 
of  Judah  in  the  day  of  their  destruction  ;  neither  should- 
est thou  have  spoken  proudly  in  the  day  of  distress. 

13.  Thou  shouldest  not  have  entered  into  the  gate 
of  my  people  in  the  day  of  their  calamity ;  yea,,  thou 
shouldest  not  have  looked  on  their  affliction  in  the  day 
of  their  calamity,  nor  have  laid  hands  on  their  substance 
in  the  day  of  their  calamity ; 

14.  Neither  shouldest  thou  have  stood  in  the  cross- 
way,  to  cut  off  those  of  his  that  did  escape ;  neither 
shouldest  thou  have  delivered  up  those  of  his  that  did 
remain  in  the  day  of  distress. 

These  specifications  of  what  Esau  had  done  in  the  line  of  vio- 
lence and  wrong  toward  his  brother  Jacob  are  put  in  the  form  of 

pointed  rebuke,  after  the  fact. In  the  day  when  the  Chaldeans 

took  his  (Jacob's)  armed  men  captive,  entered  his  gates,  and  cast 
lots  upon  whatever  was  fair  and  precious  in  the  holy  city,  thou 

wast  hostile  and  violent  as  they. "  Thou  stoodest  on  the  other 

side  "  means  more  than  simply  standing  aloof  and  distant ;  it  im- 
plies the  attitude  of  an  adversary.  The  original  words  have  this 
sense  (2  Sam.  18:  13):  "Thou  wouldest  have  set  thyself  against 

them." "  Thou  wast  as  one  of  them  "  might  possibly,  if  taken 

by  itself,  mean  only  that  the  men  of  Edom  sympathized  fully  with 
the  Chaldeans  and  against  the  Jews ;  but  it  more  naturally  implies 
that  they  participated  heartily  in  the  assault  and  pillage  of  the 
hated  city.  V.  14  certainly  means  all  this.  "Thou  shouldest 
not  have  looked  on  (exultingly)  in  the  day  when  he  was  treated  as 
an  alien."  V.  12  shows  that  they  were  present  in  the  sack  and 
ruin  of  the  city,  seizing  the  opportunity  to  rush  within  those  gates 

and  lay  hands  on  her  spoil. The  middle  clause  of  this  verse  (12) 

is  made  specially  emphatic — "Thou  shouldest  not,"  of  all  the  na- 
tions, "  thou  shouldest  not  have  been  looking  on,  to  gloat  thine 
envious  and  cruel  eye  with  the  sight  of  their  calamities."  V.  14  rep- 


164  OBADIAH. 

resents  that  they  most  cruelly  stood  in  the  road-crossings  to  waylay 
the  fleeing  Jews,  to  cut  off  their  escape,  and  to  deliver  them  up  as 
captives  to  their  cruel  captors.  They  should  have  done  none  of 
these  things.  God — the  righteous  God  of  nations — is  now  holding 
them  to  a  strict  and  stern  responsibility  for  those  cruel  violations 
of  fraternal  sympathy  which  should  have  hound  them  to  the  pos- 
terity of  their  father's  brother. The  writer  of  Ps.  137  felt  the 

spirit  of  this  just  retribution — "  Eemember,  O  Lord,  the  children 
of  Edom  in  the  day  of  avenging  Jerusalem,  -who  said :  Ease  it, 
rase  it,  even  to  the  foundation  thereof  "  (v.  7). 

15.  For  tlie  clay  of  the  Loud^'s  near  upon  all  the  hea- 
then :  as  thou  hast  done,  it  shall  be  clone  unto  thee  :  thy 
reward  shall  return  upon  thine  own  head. 

"The  day  of  the  Lord  "  is  his  time  for  retribution,  declared  here 
to  be  "  near  upon  all  the  heathen."  It  came  soon  by  the  hand  of 
Nebuchadnezzar.  "  As  thou  "  (Edom)  "  hast  done  to  Jerusalem,  so 
shall  it  be  done  unto  thee ;  thy  reward "  (the  sort  of  treatment 
thou  hast  shown  to  others)  "shall  come  back  upon  thine  own 
head." 

16.  For  as  ye  have  drunk  upon  my  holy  mountain,  so 
shall  all  the  heathen  drink  continually,  yea,  they  shall 
drink,  and  they  shall  swallow  down,  and  they  shall  be 
as  though  they  had  not  been. 

These  allusions  to  drinking  are  explained  by  the  usage  of  the 
prophets.  When  they  bore  predictions  of  dire  calamity,  they  were 
said  to  carry  a  cup  filled  with  a  mixture  which  represented  the 
wrath  and  vengeance  of  the  Almighty.  The  ground  passage  is 
Ps.  75  :  7,  8:  "But  God  is  the  judge;  he  putteth  down  one,  and 
setteth  up  another ;  for  in  the  hand  of  the  Lord  there  is  a  cup,  and 
the  wine  is  red ;  it  is  full  of  mixture  :  but  the  dregs  thereof — all  the 
wicked  of  the  earth  shall  wring  them  out  and  drink  them."  To 
Jerusalem  Isaiah  said  (51:17):  "  Stand  up,  thou  who  hast  drunk  at 
the  hand  of  the  Lord  the  cup  of  his  fury."  In  Jer.  25  :  15-33,  this 
figure  is  carried  out  fully  :  "  Take  the  wine-cup  of  this  fury  at  mine 
hand,  and  cause  all  the  nations  to  whom  I  send  thee  to  drink  it." 
So  also  Jer.  49  :  12,  in  a  passage  very  closely  parallel  to  this  of  Obadiah. 

"With  this  view  of  the  sense  of  this  figure,  it  seems  necessary  to 

refer  the  first  clause — "ye  who  have  drunk  on  my  holy  moun- 
tain " — to  the  Jews  themselves.  They  had  taken  their  turn  in  drink- 
ing from  this  cup  of  retributive  justice ;  now  all  the  heathen — Edom 

among  them — must  follow. These  guilty  heathen  nations  must 

drink  copiously,  for  the  word  rendered  "  swallow  down  "  is  strong — 
shall  guzzle  down,  as  men  who  love  it,  and  suck  out  the  very  dregs 
with  keenest  relish.  And  this  shall  be  the  end  of  them — their  cup 
of  national  annihilation. 

17.  But  upon  mount  Zion  shall  be  deliverance,  and 


OBADIAH.  1(>5 

• 

there  tliall  be  holiness ;  and  the  house  of  Jacob  shall 
possess  their  possessions. 

Over  against  the  final  fate  of  those  oppressive  and  wicked  na- 
tions, Mount  Zion  stands  in  the  strongest  contrast.  Turning  now  to 
promises  for  the  people  of  God,  the  prophet  portrays  the  victory  given 
to  Zion's  side.  Mount  Zion  shall  he  delivered,  and,  hest  of  all, 
"  shall  become  7whj."  This  will  secure  her  forever  against  such 
fearful  calamities,  for  these  come  only  as  needful  discipline  to  cleanse 
her  from  her  sins.  That  "  the  house  of  Jacob  shall  possess  their  pos- 
sessions "  will  either  mean  that  they  repossess  their  former  land,  or 
that  they  gain  possession  of  the  country  of  the  heathen — one  or  the 
other,  according  as  the  pronoun  "their"  is  reflexive,  meaning  their 
own,  or  refers  to  heathen  nations.  The  former  is  most  probable. 
The  latter  fact  is  taught  specially  in  vs.  19,  20. 

18.  And  the  house  of  Jacob  shall  be  a  fire,  and  the 
house  of  Joseph  a  flame,  and  the  house  of  Esau  for  stub- 
ble, and  they  shall  kindle  in  them,  and  devour  them ; 
and  there  shall  not  be  any  remaining  of  the  house  of 
Esau ;  for  the  Loud  hath  spoken  it. 

Fire  is  one  of  the  oriental  images  for  war  and  its  devastations. 
Thus,  Num.  21 :  28 :  "For  a  fire  is  gone  out  of  Ileshbon,  a  flame 
from  the  city  of  Sihon;  it  hath  consumed  Ar  of  Moab,"  &c.  Isaiah 
(10 :  17),  setting  forth  how  God's  consuming  wrath  fell  on  the 
Assyrian  host,  says,  "  The  light  of  Israel  shall  be  for  a  fire,  and  his 
Holy  One  for  a  flame,  and  it  shall  burn  and  devour  his  thorns  and 
briers  in  one  day."  So  here,  the  house  of  Jacob  shall  be  a  fire, 
&c,  and  Esau  stubble.  This  must  imply  that  Jacob  should  be  the 
executioner  of  the  Lord's  vengeance  upon  Esau.  A  signal  fulfil- 
ment of  this  prophecy  took  place  under  John  Hyrcanus,  b.  c.  125. 

19.  And  they  of  the  south  shall  possess  the  mount  of 
Esau ;  and  they  of  the  plain  the  Philistines  :  and  they 
shall  possess  the  fields  of  Ephraim,  and  the  fields  of  Sa- 
maria :  and  Benjamin  shall  possess  Gilead. 

The  people  of  the  southern  part  of  Palestine  should  possess  the 
mount  of  Esau,  that  being  contiguous  to  their  homes.  They  of  the 
plain  country,  the  southwest  portion  of  Palestine,  should  have  the 
country  of  the  Philistines,  adjacent  to  them,  &c. 

20.  And  the  captivity  of  this  host  of  the  children  of 
Israel  shall  possess  that  of  the  Canaanites,  men  unto 
Zarephath ;  and  the  captivity  of  Jerusalem,  which  is  in 
Sepharacl,  shall  possess  the  cities  of  the  south. 

"  The  captives  of  this  host "  are  the  captives  returning  from 
Babylon.     They  shall  possess  the  country  long  held  by  the  Canaan- 


166  OBADIAH. 

itea,  even  to  Zarephath,  a  city  near  Zidon  (see  1  Kings  17:9),  and 

called  "  Sarepta,"  Luke  4 :  26. The  geography  of  "  Sepharad  "  is 

not  fully  settled.  It  was  a  place  whither  some  captives  from  Je- 
rusalem were  sent  by  the  Chaldeans.  Recent  critics  locate  it  in 
Western  Asia,  near  the  Bosphorus. 

21.  And  saviours  shall  come  up  on  mount  Zion  to 
judge  the  mount  of  Esau ;  and  the  kingdom  shall  be  the 
Loed's. 

"  Saviours  "  must  be  used  here  in  the  sense  in  which  God  raised 
up  saviours  to  deliver  the  people  in  the  days  of  the  Judges  that 
succeeded  Joshua.  The  passage  teaches  that  the  princes  reigning  on 
Mount  Zion  shall  rule  over  Mount  Esau :  "  the  elder  shall  serve  the 
younger,"  or  rather,  in  the  much  broader  sense,  the  people  who 
stand  icith  God  shall  bear  sway  over  all  the  realms  and  peoples  of 
the  earth.  The  wicked  shall  no  more  bear  rule :  "  the  kingdom 
is  the  Lord's  and  he  is  Governor  among  the  nations."  This  is  the 
great  truth  in  which  the  whole  Book  of  Obadiah  culminates-  a  glo- 
rious truth  indeed ' 


JO^AH. 


INTEODUCTION. 

This  book,  more  than  any  other  in  the  Bible,  has  been  assailed 
with  ridicule  by  infidels,  and  tortured  from  its  simplicity  by  neolog- 
i'cal  critics.  "Whereas  its  air  is  that  of  a  simple  narrative  of  facts, 
immense  efforts  have  been  made  to  show  that  its  statements  are 
not  fact,  but  fiction.  Some  of  these  critics  would  make  it  a  vision ; 
some  an  allegory ;  some  a  parable  ;  others  a  tale  of  ancient  tradi- 
tion, believed  by  people  of  weak  minds,  perhaps,  but  by  such  only, 

and  never  reliable. It  would  scarcely  pay  to  follow  out  these 

critical  fancies  in  detail.  Let  it  suffice  that  the  narrative  bears  not 
the  least  trace  of  being  a  vision,  or  an  allegory,  or  a  parable,  or  a 
tale  of  old-time  tradition.  From  beginning  to  end  it  is  simple, 
straightforward,  nobly  honest  and  self- condemning,  especially  con- 
sidered as  written  by  Jonah  of  himself;  in  short,  in  every  respect 

bearing  the  best  internal  evidence  of  truth. Then  further,  the 

book  has  worthy  moral  objects ;  e.  (/.,  to  set  forth  the  peril  of  flee- 
ing from  the  path  of  duty,  however  rough  or  even  dangerous  that 
path  maybe;  also,  the  ways  of  God's  discipline  to  bring  his  wan- 
dering servants  back,  and  the  tenderness  of  his  pity  and  forgiving 
love  toward  them  despite  of  their  sins ;  and  yet  further,  the  prin- 
ciples on -which  God  deals  with  nations,  even  the  heathen,  whether 
in  judgment  when  they  sin,  or  in  sparing  mercy  when  they  repent. 
Such  objects  as  these  are  great  and  good  enough  to  entitle  the  book 
of  Jonah  to  a  place  in  the  sacred  canon ;  or  we  might  go  farther 
back  and  say,  sufficiently  important  to  justify  God  in  making  those 
arrangements  of  his  providence  which  constitute  his  part  in  these 


168  JONAH.— CHAP.  I. 

scenes  of  Jonah's  history. But  more  than  all,  Jonah  is  distinctly 

recognized,  in  both  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New,  as  an  historical 
and  not  a  fictitious  person.  In  Old  Testament  history,  2  Kings  14 : 
25  distinctly  refers  to  this  Jonah,  the  son  of  Amittai,  in  these 
words  :  "  He  (Jeroboam  II.)  restored  the  coast  of  Israel  from  the 
entering  of  Hamath  unto  the  sea  of  the  plain,  according  to  the 
word  of  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  which  he  spake  by  the  hand  of 
his  servant  Jonah,  the  son  of  Amittai,  who.  was  of  Gath-Hepher." 
This  city  was  assigned  to  the  tribe  of  Zebulon  (Josh.  19  :  13),  so 
that  Jonah's  residence  was  within  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes. 
He  is  thus  located,  precisely  as  to  place,  and  proximately  as  to  time, 
not  later  than  the  early  part  of  the  reign  of  Jeroboam  n.  (reigned 

b.  c.  825-784).' In  the  New  Testament,  the  proof  to  the  point 

that  Jonah  was  a  real  and  not  a  fictitious  character,  is  complete. 
(See  Matt.  12  :  39-41,  and  1G  :  4.)  The  Lord  Jesus  most  distinctly  re- 
fers to  Jonah  as  the  subject  of  a  sign — i.  c,  of  a  miracle — as  having 
been  three  days  and  three  nights  in  the  whale's  belly,  and  as  hav- 
ing preached  to  the  people  of  Nineveh,  under  which  preaching  they 
repented ;  and  finally,  he  definitely  compares  himself  with  Jonah  : 

"  Behold,   a  greater  than  Jonah  is  here." Now,  if,  despite  of 

these  testimonies  to  the  contrary,  men  insist  that  Jonah  is  to  be  ac- 
counted a  fictitious  character,  they  may  say  the  same  with  equal 
reason  of  the  queen  of  Sheba  and  of  the  wise  Solomon.  "Will  it 
be  claimed  that  the  Lord  Jesus  did  not  himr  whether  the  history 
of  Jonah  were  truth  or  fiction?  or  that,  knowing  it  to  be  fiction,  he 
did  not  care  how  strongly  his  allusions  to  it  implied  its  truth  and 
misled  the  people  ?  Neither  of  these  positions  will  ever  be  taken 
by  those  who  intelligently  accept  and  honor  Jesus  Christ  as  a 
teacher  sent  from  God,  and  the  very  impersonation  of  truth. 

Yet  further,  the  apocryphal  Book  of  Tobit  (14 :  4,  8)  recognizes 
Jonah  as  an  historical  and  not  a  fictitious  character,  a  fact  which  at 
least  testifies  to  current  Jewish  opinion  at  its  date.  Josephus  is  yet 
another  witness  to  the  same  point  (Ant,  9:10,  12). 

The  case  of  Jonah  suggests  that  the  Hebrew  prophets,  though 
brought  into  very  near  relations  to  God,  were  yet  only  human — men 
of  like  passions  with  the  race  at  large,  and  subject  to  the  tempta- 
tions incident  to  human  frailties,  nis  course  in  fleeing  to  Tarshish 
and  his  spirit  while  at  Nineveh,  are  at  once  surprising  and  painful. 
In  view  of  the  fact  that  he  was  one  of  the  earliest  of  the  Hebrew 
prophets  whose  writings  have  come  down  to  us,  it  is  at  least  sup- 
posable  that  the  Lord  intended  this  example  to  be  a  lesson  of  spe- 


JONAH.— CHAP.  I.  iq$ 

cial  admonition  to  all  subsequent  prophets.  Let  us  hope  that  it 
was  blessed  to  them  as  a  warning  against  being  unfaithful  to  their 
mission,  and  against  assuming  to  dictate  or  question  the  policy  of 
the  Most  High  God. 


CHAPTER    I. 

Jonah  is  commissioned  to  go  to  Mneveh  and  forewarn  them  of 
their  destruction  (vs.  1,  2).  He  attempts  to  flee  away  to  Spain  in- 
stead (v.  o);  a  tempest  from  the  Lord  arrests  the  ship  (vs.  4-11); 
he  is  thrown  overboard  and  caught  up  by  a  great  fish  (vs.  11-17). 

1.  Now  the  word  of  tlie  Loud  came  unto  Jonah  tlio 
son  of  Amittai,  saying, 

2.  Arise,  go  to  Nineveh,  that  great  city,  and  cry 
against  it ;  for  their  wickedness  is  come  up  before  me.  ' 

Nineveh,  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Tigris,  opposite  the  site  of 
the  modern  Mosul,  for  many  ages  past  in  ruins,  has  been  discovered 
and  its  ruins  somewhat  thoroughly  explored  in  the  present  century. 
It  was  the  capital  of  ancient  Assyria,  one  of  the  oldest  cities  since 
the  flood  (Gen.  10 :  11,  12),  long  celebrated  for  its  size,  wealth,  and 
magnificence.  At  this  time  its  wickedness  had  come  up  before  God, 
and  he  mercifully  sent  to  them  a  prophet  from  Israel  to  forewarn 

them  of  impending  ruin  and  exhort  them  to  repent. The  Hebrew 

prophets  were  somewhat  frequently  commissioned  to  utter  predic- 
tions of  judgment  on  Gentile  nations,  but  seem  to  have  been  very 
rarely  sent  in  person  to  bear  these  predictions  to  those  nations.  In 
Jer.  27 maybe  seen  a  proximate  case.  The  prophet  was  directed  to 
send  his  prophetic  message  by  the  hand  of  foreign  ambassadors 
present  at  the  Jewish  capital. 

3.  But  Jonah  rose  up  to  nee  unto  Tarshish  from  the 
presence  of  the  Loed,  and  went  down  to  Joppa ;  and  he 
found  a  ship  going  to  Tarshish :  so  he  paid  the  fare 
thereof,  and  went  down  into  it,  to  go  with  them  unto 
Tarshish  from  the  presence  of  the  Loed. 

It  is  now  quite  settled  among  critics  that  "Tarshish'1  was  the 
city  Tartessus,  in  Spain,  with  which  the  Phoenicians  kept  up  an 
active  trade  by  sea.  Jonah  thought  to  escape  the  responsibility  of 
his  unwelcome  commission  to  Nineveh  by  taking  ship  at  once  to 
Tarshish.  The  narrative  is  particular  to  state  repeatedly  that  this 
was  "fleeing  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord" — as  if  there  would 
be  no  God  in  Tarshish  to  make  him  trouble!  or  at  least,  as  if  God 
could  not  object  to  his  laying  down  his  prophetic  office,  and  going 

abroad  to  foreign  lands. We  naturally  ask — What  could  have 

8 


170  JONAH.— CHAP.   I. 

been  Lis  motive  and  what  Lis  temptation  to  a  course  so  wicked  and 
so  foolish  ?  Fear  for  his  personal  safety  is  the  cause  we  most  naturally 
think  of,  yet  of  this  it  might  well  be  asked — Did  not  he  know  that 
if  the  Lord  sent  him  into  danger,  he  could  protect  him  through  it? 
and  that  it  is  always  safe  for  a  child  of  God  to  go  where  he  knows 

his  Father  sends  him  ? Another  motive,  even  less  worthy  than 

this  of  fear,  is  indicated  by  his  own  strange  expostulation  with  God 
(4 : 1,  2),  because  He  retracted  his  threat  to  destroy  Kineveh  and 
turned  from  punishment  to  pardon.  This  change  on  the  part  of 
God  "  displeased  Jonah  exceedingly,  and  he  was  very  angry ! " 
(Alas  for  poor  human  nature !)  "  And  he  prayed  unto  the  Lord 
and  said — I  pray  tbee,  O  Lord,  was  not  this  my  saying  when  I  was 
yet  in  my  country  ?  Therefore  I  fled  before  to  Tarshish  ;  for  I  knew 
that  thou  art  a  gracious  God  and  merciful,  slow  to  anger,  and  of  great 

kindness,  and  repentest  thee  of  the  evil." Ah,  indeed!  then 

Jonah  did  not  like  to  go  to  Nineveh,  through  fear  that  they  would 
repent,  and  then  the  Lord  would  forgive  them  and  not  destroy  the 
city,  as  he  was  about  to  proclaim.  And  was  he  concerned  lest  his 
reputation  should  suffer,  and  he  be  thought  a  false  prophet  ?     Alas, 

again  we  must  say,  for  the  follies  and  sins  of  man ! In  some 

points  of  view  it  seems  wonderful  that  God  should  employ  such 
a  man  at  all  as  a  prophet — only  that  in  the  sins  of  Jonah  many  a 

man  might  see  his  own,  if  he  would. The  Lord  has  great  moral 

lessons  to  teach  us  from  these  sins  of  Jonah.  Let  none  of  us  be 
too  blind  to  see  them,  nor  too  much  in  love  with  sin  to  accept  the 
rebuke  they  read  to  us,  and  repent. 

4.  But  the  Loed  sent  out  a  great  wind  into  the  sea, 
and  there  was  a  mighty  tempest  in  the  sea,  so  that  the 
ship  was  like  to  be  broken. 

The  verb  rendered  "sent  out"  is  strikingly  expressive.  ITe 
hurled  down  upon  the  sea  a  great  wind.  The  same  word  is  used 
in  the  next  verse  for  casting  out  the  wares  from  the  ship.  So 
easily  does  God  cast  forth  his  tempest  blasts  and  lash  the  sou  into 
fury. 

5.  Then  the  mariners  were  afraid,  and  cried  every 
man  unto  his  god,  and  cast  forth  the  wares  that  were  in 
the  ship  into  the  sea,  to  lighten  it  of  them.  But  Jonah 
was  gone  down  into  the  sides  of  the  ship  ;  and  he  lay, 
and  was  fast  asleep. 

Those  heathen  men — for  such  they  doubtless  were — had  each 
his  god.  In  his  danger  each  of  those  men  prayed  to  the  god  lie 
was  wont  to  worship.  Who  does  not  pray  in  the  hour  of  peril? 
Certainly  the  heathen  are  usually  no  exception.  Probably  there  are 
no  people  on  earth  further  removed  from  confidence  in  some  super- 
human power  able  to  befriend  and  save,  than  the  irreligious  and 
profane  class  in  Christian  lands. 


JONAH.— CHAP.   I.  "171 

Some  have  thought  that  the  statement  respecting  Jonah  as  fast 

asleep  under  such  circumstances,  is  violently  improbable. But 

who  knows  how  far  he  had  walked  during-  the  previous  day  to  reach 
Joppa,  or  how  much  he  may  have  suffered  in  his  mind  throughout 
his  journey,  and  for  days  previous?  The  ways  of  sin  are  not  wont 
to  be  ways  of  pleasantness,  nor  her  paths  those  of  peace. 

G.  So  the  shipmaster  came  to  him,  and  said  unto 
him,  What  meanest  thou,  O  sleeper  ?  arise,  call  upon  thy 
God,  if  so  be  that  God  will  think  upon  us,  that  we  perish 
not. 

This  rousing  call  must  have  stung  the  sleeper,  especially  when, 
having  fully  awakened,  he  saw  that  God  had  met  him  in  his  guilty 

way,  and  had  brought  such  peril  upon  others  for  his  sake. It  is 

noticeable  that  the  word  God  in  the  last  clause  has  the  article:  "It 
may  be  that  the  great  and  the  true  God  will  think  upon  us,"  &c. 
Had  he  not  some  just  conception  of  the  one  only  true  God  ? 

7.  And  they  said  every  one  to  his  fellow,  Come,  and 
let  us  cast  lots,  that  we  may  know  for  whose  cause  this 
evil  is  upon  us.  So  they  cast  lots,  and  the  lot  fell  upon 
Jonah. 

The  "lot"  was  practically  an  appeal  to  God  to  decide  a  pend- 
ing question  by  his  providence.  In  this  case  the  Lord  took  the 
disposal  of  the  lot,  according  to  Prov.  16 :  33 :  "  The  lot  is  cast  into 
the  lap ;  but  the  whole  disposing  thereof  is  of  the  Lord."  It  put 
the  finger  of  God  upon  Jonah. 

8.  Then  said  they  unto  him,  Tell  us,  we  pray  thee, 
for  whose  cause  this  evil  is  upon  us;  What  is  thine 
occupation  ?  and  whence  contest  thou  ?  what  is  thy 
country  ?  and  of  what  people  art  thou  ? 

9.  And  he  said  unto  them,  I  am  an  Hebrew ;  and  I 
fear  the  Loed,  the  God  of  heaven,  which  hath  made  the 
sea  and  the  dry  land. 

10.  Then  were  the  men  exceedingly  afraid,  and  said 
unto  him,  Why  hast  thou  done  this?  For  the  men 
knew  that  he  fled  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  be- 
cause he  had  told  them. 

The  alarm  felt  by  those  sailors  was  greatly  increased  when 
Jonah  told  them  that  the  God  whom  he  feared  and  worshipped 
was  that  great  God  of  heaven  who  made  the  sea  and  the  dry 
land.  They  could  not  help  rebuking  him.  How  couldest  thou 
offend  such  a  God  ?  See  what  comes  of  it !  Didst  thou  think  to 
escape  the  wrath  and  the  reach  of  so  great  a  God  ? 


172  JONAH.— CHAP.  I. 

11.  Then  said  they  unto  him,  What  shall  we  do  unto 
thee,  that  the  sea  may  be  calm  nnto  us  ?  for  the  sea 
wrought  and  was  tempestuous. 

They  see  plainly  that  they  must  do  something  with  Jonah.  He 
is  the  Achan  in  their  camp.     So  they  frankly  ask  him  what  they 

shall  do  with  him. The  last  clause  manifestly  means  that  the  sea 

was  becoming  more  and  more  tempestuous. 

12.  And  he  said  unto  them,  Take  me  up,  and  cast 
me  forth  into  the  sea ;  so  shall  the  sea  be  calm  unto 
you :  for  I  know  that  for  my  sake  this  great  tempest  is 
upon  you. 

Here  is  one  redeeming  quality  in  the  character  of  Jonah.  It  is 
pleasant  to  see  a  man,  when  found  in  sin.  so  frank,  so  honest,  so 
consciously  sensible  of  his  fault,  and  so  ready  to  suffer  the  whole 
fruit  of  his  own  misdoings,  and  relieve  his  companions. 

13.  Nevertheless  the  men  rowed  hard  to  bring  it  to 
the  land  ;  but  they  could  not :  for  the  sea  wrought,  and 
was  tempestuous  against  them. 

The  spirit  which  Jonah  manifested  awakened  the  sympathy  of 
the  captain  and  crew  in  his  behalf,  and  again  they  dug  into  the  sea 
with  their  oars  (so  the  Hebrew  means),  to  bring  their  ship  to  land  ; 
but  all  in  vain.     The  sea  only  became  the  more  furious. 

14.  "Wherefore  they  cried  unto  the  Loud,  and  said, 
We  beseech  thee,  O  Loud,  we  beseech  thee,  let  us  not 
perish  for  this  man's  life,  and  lay  not  upon  us  innocent 
blood  :  for  thou,  O  Lord,  hast  done  as  it  pleased  thee. 

It  was  a  solemn  thing  to  take  this  human  life ;  and  like  men 
who  appreciate  this,  they  once  more  implore  the  mercy  of  God, 
and  beseech  him  to  note  the  necessity  that  lies  upon  them,  which 
they  refer  distinctly  to  his  manifest  hand  in  providence,  so  that  they 
may  not  be  held  guilty  of  innocent  blood. 

15.  So  they  took  up  Jonah,  and  cast  him  forth  into 
the  sea  :  and  the  sea  ceased  from  her  raging. 

16.  Then  the  men  feared  the  Lord  exceedingly,  and 
offered  a  sacrifice  unto  the  Loud,  and  made  vows. 

17.  Now  the  Lord  had  prepared  a  great  fish  to  swal- 
low up  Jonah.  And  Jonah  was  in  the  belly  of  the  fish 
three  days,  and  three  nights. 

The  original  word  rendered  "  prepared "  means  appointed, 
assigned,  i.  e,,  to  this  service.     This  fish  was  providentially  ready. 

The  fact  here  stated  is  the  great  stone  of  stumbling  and  rock  of 

offence  to  that  class  of  critics  who  deny  the  existence  of  miracles. 


JONAH.— CHAR  II.  173 

We  need  have  no  special  sympathy  with  their  perplexities  or  their 
stumbling ;  for  there  can  be  no  good  reason  for  rejecting  miracles. 
Besides^  in  this  case,  onr  divine  Lord  distinctly  recognizes  the  pres- 
ence of  miracles  by  saying  that  Jonah  was  "  a  sign"  i.  c,  a  man  in 

whom  miracles  were  manifested. It  is  not  necessarily  a  miracle 

that  a  great  fish  should  swallow  a  man.  There  arc  several  varieties 
that  are  capable  of  swallowing  a  man  wThole,  for  they  have  done  it. 
But  that  a  man  should  live  three  days  and  three  nights,  or,  indeed, 
one  hour,  in  the  belly  of  a  fish,  must  be  a  miracle. 


CHAPTER    II. 

In  this  short  chapter,  Jonah  has  put  on  record  the  prayers  he 
poured  out  unto  God  from  his  heart  of  anguish  while  imprisoned 
three  days  in  the  stomach  of  a  sea-monster. 

1.  Then  Jonah  prayed  nnto  the  Loud  his  God  out 
of  the  fish's  belly, 

2.  And  said,  I  cried  by  reason  of  mine  affliction  unto 
the  Lord,  and  he  heard  me ;  out  of  the  belly  of  hell  cried 
I,  and  thou  heardest  my  voice. 

The  phrase — "  out  of  the  belly  of  hell " — should  not  carry  our 
minds  to  the  place  of  final  torment  for  the  wicked,  but  to  the  pit 
or  grave,  where  the  bodies  of  men  are  laid  at  death.  He  felt  like 
one  buried  alive — his  consciousness  still  active  and  keen  as  ever, 
but  himself  shut  up  in  darkness ;  imprisoned,  apparently  past  hope 
of  ever  seeing  the  light  of  this  fair  world  again,  save  as  he  knew 

and  felt  that  bis  God  might  mercifully  restore  him. The  ITebrew 

word  used  here  (Sheol)  often  has  this  sense — the  grave. 

3.  For  thou  hast  cast  me  into  the  deep,  in  the  midst 
of  the  seas  ;  and  the  floods  compassed  me  about :  all  thy 
billows  and  thy  waves  passed  over  me. 

Many  of  the  expressions  in  this  prayer  of  Jonah  occur  in  the 
Psalms,  with  only  slight  variations,  if  any.  The  reader  may  find  it 
interesting  to  compare  v.  2  with  Ps.  120 : 1 ;  v.  3  with  42  :  7 ; 
v.  4  with  31  :  22  ;  v.  5  with  GO  :  1 ;  v.  7  with  142  :  3  ;  v.  8  with 
31  :  G ;  and  v.  9  with  3  :  8.  This  comparison  goes  far  to  establish 
two  interesting  facts :  (1.)  Tbat  tbese  psalms  were  extant  in  Jonah's 
time;  (2.)  That  he  had  read  them  often,  had  become  familiar 
with  their  phraseology,  especially  that  which  was  used  in  prayer, 
and  was  therefore  accustomed  to  use  their  language  in  his  own  de- 
votions. He  did  as  Christians  now  do  who  are  familiar  with  the 
devotional  portions  of  God's  word — use  those  forms  of  expression  in 
their  daily  and  hourly  intercessions  before  God. 


174  JONAH.— chap.  n. 

4.  Then  I  said,  I  am  cast  out  of  thy  sight ;  yet  I  will 
look  again  toward  thy  holy  temple. 

It  cannot  surprise  us  that  Jonah  both  said  and  felt,  "I  am  cast 
out  of  thy  sight."  "When  his  fellow-passengers  on  shipboard  took 
hhn  up  and  cast  him  overboard,  it  must  have  seemed  .to  him  that 

God  was  casting  him  forth  out  of  his  sight  forever. But  Jonah 

had  once  known  the  loving-kindness  of  his  God.  Hence,  the  thought 
of  possible  mercy  came  now  to  his  relief,  and  he  said,  "  Yet  I  will 
look  once  more  toward  thy  holy  temple."  Did  he  not  appreciate  in 
that  hour  how  much  the  mercy  of  God  is  worth  to  a  soul  con- 
sciously lost  ? 

5.  The  waters  compassed  me  about,  even  to  the  soul : 
the  depth  closed  me  round  about,  the  weeds  were 
wrapped  about  my  head. 

He  seemed  to  himself  to  lie  on  the  bottom  of  tne  sea— its  weeds 
wrapped  as  his  winding-sheet  about  him. 

6.  I  went  down  to  the  bottoms  of  the  mountains ;  the 
earth  wnth  her  bars  was  about  me  for  ever :  yet  hast 
thou  brought  up  my  life  from  corruption,  O  Lord  my 
God. 

The  word  "bars,"  in  the  clause  "the  earth  with  her  bars  was 
about  me  forever,"  Gesenius  supposes  to  refer  to  the  bars  of  Sheol — 
the  under  world — as  closed  now  upon  him  forever.  But  the  promi- 
nent position  of  the  word  "  earth  "  in  the  sentence  favors  another 
construction,  viz.,  that  the  earth,  in  the  sense  of  land  as  opposed  to 
sea,  had  cast  him  out,  and  closed  its  bars  upon  him,  so  that  he  could 
not  hope  ever  to  see  its  light  and  beauty  agaiu.  If  he  had  meant 
the  bars  of  Sheol,  he  might  readily  have  said  so  in  unambiguous 

terms. Yet,  notwithstanding  he  was  so  imprisoned  in  the  depths 

of  the  sea,  he  lifts  up  his  grateful  eye  and  his  voice  of  acknowledg- 
ment to  God  above — "  Thou  hast  brought  up  my  life  from  the  pit, 
O  Lord  my  God. 

7.  When  my  soul  fainted  within  me  I  remembered 
the  Lord  :  and  my  prayer  came  in  unto  thee,  into  thine 
holy  temple. 

8.  They  that  observe  lying  vanities,  forsake  their 
own  mercy. 

"  They  that  observe  lying  vanities  "  are  the  worshippers  of  idol 
gods  which  are  always  false  and  vain.  They  do  indeed  "forsake  " 
in  the  sense  of  rejecting  and  losing  their  own  mercies.  They 
miserably  forego  the  blessedness  that  is  in  store  for  them  in  the 
true  God,  if  only  they  will  seek  it  there.  So  of  all  sinners  who 
seek  their  good  elsewhere  than  in  the  living  God.  They  "forsake 
their  own  mercies." 


JONAH.— CHAP.   III.  175 

0.  But  I  will  sacrifice  unto  thee  with  the  voice  of 
thanksgiving  ;  I  will  pay  that  that  I  have  vowed.  Sal- 
vation is  of  the  Lord. 

Precisely  what  his  vows  were  in  his  trouble  he  has  not  said. 
Doubtless  he  promised  the  Lord  never  again  to  try  to  flee  from  his 

presence  to  avoid  an  unwelcome  duty. He  closes  with  this  most 

expressive,  glorious  testimony:   "Salvation  is  of  the  Lord."    He 
and  he  only  can  save  in  times  of  trouble. 

10.  And  the  Loud  spake  unto  the  fish,  and  it  vomit- 
ed out  Jonah  upon  the  dry  land. 

"With  infinite  ease  the  Lord  spake — only  spake  to  the  fish — and 
it  vomited  Jonah  forth  upon  the  dry  land,  doubtless  on  the  shore 
of  his  native  country,  Palestine.  It  would  seem  that  the  ship  had 
not  gone  far  from  its  starting-point,  Joppa,  when  the  storm  headed 
and  beat  it  back. 


CHAPTER    III. 

Commanded  a  second  time,  Jonah  goes  to  Nineveh,  and  pro- 
claims its  approaching  ruin.  The  people  and  their  king  humble 
themselves  and  repent  before  God ;  he  turns  from  his  purpose  and 
spares  the  city. 

1.  And  the  word  of  the  Loud  came  mito  Jonah  the 
second  time,  saying, 

2.  Arise,  go  unto  Nineveh,  that  great  city,  and 
preach  unto  it  the  preaching  that  I  bid  thee. 

Jonah  was  not  only  to  go  as  commanded,  but  he  is  specially 
charged  to  preach  to  that  great  and  proud  city  what  God  should 
bid  him  preach — a  charge  very  probably  significant  of  some  appre- 
hension lest  Jonah  might  trip  at  this  point,  and  certainly  full  of 
suggestions  to  all  who  are  ever  called  of  God  to  preach  in  his  name. 
"What  have  they  to  do  to  preach  out  of  their  own  heart,  to  sub- 
serve some  supposed  interest  of  then*  own,  other  than  that  for 
which  God  sends  them?  They  might  as  well  flee  to  Tarshish,  to 
escape  the  duty  of  preaching  the  ruin  of  the  wicked,  as  to  withhold 
God's  threatenings,  or  preach  something  else  and  other  than  what 
God  bids  them,  when  they  reach  the  Nineveh  whither  he  sends 
them. 

3.  So  Jonah  arose,  and  went  unto  Nineveh,  accord- 
ing to  the  word  of  the  Loed.  Now  Nineveh  was  an  ex- 
ceeding great  city  of  three  days'  journey. 

Now  Jonah  obeys.  He  is  a  wiser  and  a  better  man  for  the  dis- 
cipline God  has  given  him.     "  Before  I  was  afflicted,  I  went  astray ; 


17G  JONAH.— CHAP.  III. 

but  now  Lave  I  kept  thy  word." The  phrase  "an  exceeding 

great  city,"  stands  in  the  Hebrew,  "  a  city  great  to  God,"  i.  e.,  great 
before  him — great  as  to  him,  in  his  estimation.  The  Hebrews  were 
accustomed  to  express  their  highest  ideas  of  the  superlative  degree 
by  using  the  name  of  God,  e.  g.,  "mountains  of  God,"  &c.  The 
sense  of  this  passage  may  be  somewhat  more  specific,  representing 
the  city  as  great  in  its  relations  to  God,  and  not  merely  as  very 

great  apart  from  those  relations. In  estimating  an  oriental  day's 

journey,  we  must  think  of  a  caravan,  heavy  laden,  many  on  foot, 
in  a  hot  climate.  Twenty  miles  would  be  the  maximum.  Tin 
statement  "  a  city  of  three  days'  journey  "  should  probably  be  ap- 
plied to  its  circumference,  and  not  to  its  diameter ;  because  sixty 
miles  in  diameter  would  make  the  city  incredibly  large ;  because 
one  of  the  most  reliable  ancient  historians,  Diodorus  Sicnlus  (II.,  3) 
represents  it  as  sixty  miles  in  circuit ;  and  because  Jonah's  begin- 
ning to  enter  it  one  day's  journey  (v.  4)  may  have  been  on  a  tor- 
tuous course,  and  not  on  a  right  line  through  its  centre. 

4.  And  Jonah  began  to  enter  into  the  city  a  day's 
journey,  and  he  cried,  and  said,  Yet  forty  days,  and 
Nineveh  shall  be  overthrown. 

Jonah  seems  to  have  begun  his  preaching  as  he  entered  the  city, 
and  to  have  made  his  proclamation  in  the  streets  and  "public  places, 
wherever  he  found  people  to  hear  him. 

5.  So  the  people  of  Nineveh  believed  God,  and  pro- 
claimed a  fast,  and  put  on  sackcloth,  from  the  greatest 
of  them  even  to  the  least  of  them. 

The  first  step  toward  their  repentance  and  salvation  lay  in  their 
believing  God.  They  accepted  the  message  of  this  solitary  stran- 
ger as  one  sent  them  by  the  Most  High  God. To  those  who 

have  noted  the  strange  incredulity  of  millions  under  the  light  of 
the  gospel,  this  fact  appears  surprising.  We  must  suppose  that 
Jonah  spake  as  one  who  felt  the  solemnity  of  his  mission'  and  car- 
ried the  air  of  a  deeply  honest  man,  and  we  must  also  suppose  that 
he  had  their  conscience  on  his  side,  and  that  the  power  of  God  was 
in  and  with  his  words. 

6.  For  word  came  unto  the  king  of  Nineveh,  and  he 
arose  from  his  throne,  and  he  laid  his  robe  from  him, 
and  covered  him  with  sackcloth,  and  sat  in  ashes. 

It  does  not  appear  that  the  king  heard  from  Jonah's  own  lips; 
but  the  word  came  to  him  through  his  servants.  They  testified  to 
the  deep,  pervading  conviction  of  the  people,  and  the  king  at  once 

believed  God  as  his  people  had  done. The  name  of  this  king  is 

not  given  or  known.  This  record  of  him  may  well  rebuke  many  an 
ungodly  monarch  who  plants  his  foot  upon  the  very  idea  of  "  a  higher 
law  of  God,"  and  scornfully  repels  all  authority  higher  than  the 
mandates  of  his  own  will. 


JONAH.— CHAP.  III.  177 

7.  And  lie  caused  it  to  be  proclaimed  and  published 
through  Nineveh  by  decree  of  the  king  and  his  no- 
bles, saying,  Let  neither  man  nor  beast,  herd  nor  flock, 
taste  any  thing :  let  them  not  feed,  nor  drink  water : 

8.  But  let  man  and  beast  be  covered  with  sackcloth, 
and  cry  mightily  unto  God  :  yea,  let  them  turn  every 
one  from  his  evil  way,  and  from  the  violence  that  is  in 
their  hands. 

It  is  specially  noticeable  that  this  proclamation  calls  not  only  for 
humiliation,  fasting,  and  all  the  customary  oriental  tokens  of  sorrow 
and  penitence,  and  for  prayer  also — crying  mightily  to  God — but  also 
specially  enjoins  on  all  men  to  "  turn  every  one  from  his  evil  way 
and  from  the  violence  that  is  in  their  hands."  So  manifest  is  it  that 
the  law  of  justice  and  right  is  everywhere  in  the  human  mind,  and 

that  no  heathen  can  be  so  blind  as  npt  to  see  it. This  also  is  a 

stinging  rebuke  to  men,  who,  under  far  clearer  light  than  theirs, 
yet  labor  to  extinguish  this  light,  or,  in  the  more  tit  and  expressive 
words  of  revelation,  "put  darkness  for  light  and  light  for"  darkness." 

9.  Who  can  tell  if  God  will  turn  and  repent,  and 
turn  away  from  his  fierce  anger,  that  we  perish  not  ? 

The  form  of  this  question  suggests  that  the  king  of  Nineveh 
did  not  know  that  God  would  always  forgive  a  penitent  people. 
He  had  heard  less  of  God  than  we  have.  But  he  could  say,  "  Who 
can  tell  (literally,  "  who  knows  ")  whether  he  will  turn  and  repent, 
that  we  perish  not  ?  "  On  this  assumed  possibility  he  bases  his  call 
to  humiliation,  fasting,  prayer,  and  reform. 

10.  And  God  saw  their  works,  that  they  turned 
from  their  evil  way ;  and  God  repented  of  the  evil  that 
he  had  said  that  he  would  do  unto  them  ;  and  he  did  it 
not. 

"God  saw,"  not  their  professions,  nor  merely  their  prayers,  but 
"  their  works,  that  they  turned  from  their  evil  way."  Of  course, 
when  they  changed  their  moral  attitude  before  him,  he^  changed  his 
plan  ;  turned  from  his  purpose,  and  spared  the  city.  So  he  always 
deals  with  the  nations  of  the  earth.  Works  meet  for  repentance 
will  infallibly  secure  the  reversal  of  threatened  and  impending  doom. 
God's  immutability  is  that  of  principle— not  of  plan  and  action.  He 
immutably  hates  and  punishes  sin  :  hence,  when  a  sinner  becomes  a 
penitent,  God  turns  from  threatened  vengeance  to  free  pardon. 


8* 


178  JONAH.— CHAP.  IV. 


CHAPTER    IY. 

This  chapter  is  a  mournful  record  of  the  moral  frailties  of  a 
good  man,  and  a  glorious  testimony  to  the  pity,  forbearance,  and 
love  of  the  blessed  God.  Jonah  is  greatly  displeased  because  the 
Lord  reversed  the  predicted  fall  of  Nineveh  :  he  waits  outside  the 
city  to  see  what  the  Lord  would  do  to  it ;  he  put  up  a  rude  tent  for 
shelter  from  the  heat ;  and  the  Lord  brought  up  a  gourd  over  him 
for  his  further  relief;  but  a  worm  destroys  the  gourd.  Jonah  is 
again  fretful,  impatient,  and  angry,  and  the  Lord  very  gently 
rebukes  him,  and  gives  reasons  for  sparing  Nineveh. 

1.  But  it  displeased  Jonah  exceedingly,  and  he  was 
very  angry. 

Some  critics  give  the  word  rendered  in  this  passage  "  displeased," 
the  sense  of  grieved.  It  would  be  a  great  relief  to  my  feelings  of 
sorrow  and  shame,  if  the  words  and  the  circumstances  would  bear 
this  construction.  But  as  an  interpreter  of  God's  word,  I  must 
honor  the  truth  rather  than  humor  the  feelings  of  the  heart.  So 
this  passage  must  stand,  "  displeased,"  "  angry  exceedingly." 

2.  And  he  prayed  unto  the  Lord,  and  said,  I  pray 
thee,  O  Lord,  was  not  this  my  saying,  when  I  was  yet 
in  my  country  ?  Therefore  I  lied  before  unto  Tarshish  : 
for  I  knew  that  thou  art  a  gracious  God,  and  merciful, 
slow  to  anger,  and  of  great  kindness,  and  repentest  thee 
of  the  evil. 

In  the  clause,  "  Therefore  I  fled  before  unto  Tarshish,"  the  sense 
is  not  that  I  fled  at  a  former  time,  but  that  I  fled  before  I  came  into 
such  an  emergency  as  this ;  I  anticipated  precisely  such  a  result  as 
this,  and  I  fled  beforehand,  to  avoid  it.  I  did  not  wish  to  declare 
to  them  from  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  that  the  city  should  fall  within 
forty  days,  and  then  have  my  words  prove  false. To  this  con- 
struction, the  reasons  he  assigns  correspond:  "For  I  knew  that 
thou  art  a  gracious  God,  and  wouldest  probably  repent  so  as  not  to 

inflict  this  evil." The  last  clause  which  groups  his  testimony  to 

God's  mercy  is  in  the  very  words  of  Joel  (2  :  13),  and  almost  iden- 
tical with  Ex.  34 :  6,  7.  Probably  both  passages  were  famUiar  to 
his  mind.  This  boldness  before  God,  while  so  grievously  in  the 
wrong  withal,  is  appalling.  It  is  awful  that  a  sinner,  plucked  him- 
self as  a  brand  from  the  burning,  and  living  on  mere  mercy  alone, 
should  object  to  God's  showing  the  same  mercy  to  his  fellow-sin- 
ners. Why  did  he  not  rather  rejoice  and  shout  for  joy  when  he 
saw  the  king  and  people  of  Nineveh  on  their  faces  before  God — his 
warnings  pressing  them  effectually  to  repentance,  and  the  clouds 
of  gathering  vengeance  swept  away  by  the  hand  of  love  ? 


JONAH.— CHAP.  IV.  179 

3.  Therefore  now,  O  Lord,  take,  I  beseech  thee,  my 
life  from  me ;  for  it  is  better  for  me  to  die  than  to 
live. 

And  dow  lie  is  so  much  vexed  and  so  angry,  that  lie  prays  God 
to  take  his  life !  How  could  he  think  himself  prepared  to  die  in 
such  a  temper  ? 

4.  Then  said  the  Lord,  Doest  thou  well  to  be  angry  % 

Some  interpreters  render  this  verse — "  Then  said  the  Lord,  Art 
thou  much  vexed?  " There  are  two  fatal  objections  to  this  ren- 
dering: (1.)  The  question  so  put  is  needless,  since  Jonah  had 
shown  his  extreme  anger  but  too  plainly;  and  (2.)  The  original 
words  cannot,  legitimately,  bear  this  construction.  They  mean — 
Does  thine  anger  burn  justly,  rightly  ?  Hast  thou  any  good  reason 
for  such  anger  ?  Is  it  doing  well,  that  thou  shouldest  let  such  pas- 
sions rise  ? — A  very  gentle  rebuke  indeed,  for  sins  so  great  and  so 
provoking  to  God ! 

5.  So  Jonah  went  ont  of  the  city,  and  sat  on  the  east 
side  of  the  city,  and  there  made  him  a  booth,  and  sat 
under  it  in  the  shadow,  till  he  might  see  what  wonld  be- 
come of  the  city. 

"  Till  he  might  see  what  would  become  of  the  city  " — as  if  this 
question  were  still  in  suspense.  Can  it  be  supposed  that  he  thought 
— Possibly  the  Lord  will  hear  my  prayer  and  my  expostulation,  and 
will  turn  again  to  execute  his  first  sentence  of  destruction  ? 

6.  And  the  Lord  God  prepared  a  gourd,  and  made  it 
to  come  np  over  Jonah,  that  it  might  be  a  shadow  over 
his  head,  to  deliver  him  from  his  grief.  So  Jonah  was 
exceeding  glad  of  the  gourd. 

Still  the  Lord  is  mindful  of  the  little  comforts  of  his  servant 
Jonah,  and  brings  up  over  him  very  suddenly  the  shade  of  a  rapidly 
growing  plant,  to  "  relieve  his  sufferings" — for  so,  more  accurately, 
I  render  the  words  translated  "  to  deliver  him  from  his  grief."  This 
"  gourd  "  is  supposed  to  be  the  shrub  known  by  the  name  of  "  Palma 
Christi." 

7.  But  God  prepared  a  worm  when  the  morning 
rose  the  next  day,  and  it  smote  the  gourd  that  it 
withered. 

8.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  sun  did  arise,  that 
God  prepared  a  vehement  east  wind  ;  and  the  sun  beat 
upon  the  head  of  Jonah,  that  he  fainted,  and  wished  in 
himself  to  die,  and  said,  It  is  better  for  me  to  die  than 
to  live. 


180  JONAH.— CHAP.  IV. 

This  east  wind,  which  the  text  reads  "vehement,"  the  margin, 
nearer  the  truth,  has  "silent."  It  was  not  a  violent  hut  a  sultry 
wind,  such  as  comes  up  from  the  desert  on  the  southeast,  like  the 
breath  of  a  great  furnace.  Jonah  sinks  under  this  great  heat,  and 
again  wishes  that  he  may  die ! 

9.  And  God  said  to  Jonah,  Doest  thou  well  to  he 
angry  for  the  gourd  ?  And  he  said,  I  do  well  to  he 
angry,  even  unto  death. 

The  same  question,  in  the  same  words  as  in  v.  6,  and  with  the 
same  meaning,  only  that  this  respects  his  recent  anger  because  of 
the  withered  gourd.  Strange  to  say,  Jonah  justifies  himself,  and  by 
implication,  complains  of  God  for  suffering  the  worm  to  kill  his 
gourd ! 

10.  Then  said  the  Loed,  Thou  hast  had  pity  on  the 
gourd,  for  the  which  thou  hast  not  labored,  neither 
madest  it  grow ;  which  came  up  in  a  night,  and  perished 
in  a  night : 

11.  And  should  not  I  spare  Nineveh,  that  great  city, 
wherein  are  more  than  sixscore  thousand  persons  that 
cannot  discern  between  their  right  hand  and  their  left 
hand,  and  also  much  cattle  ? 

The  verb  which  expresses  Jonah's  feeling  for  the  gourd  is  the 
same  which  expresses  the  Lord's  feeling  for  NInevah,  yet  our  trans- 
lators render  the  former  "  hast  "had  pity"  and  the  latter  "  Should 
I  not  spare  ?  "  This  is  unfortunate.  Pity  for  the  gourd  was  not 
precisely  the  feeling  of  Jonah;  he  rather  pitied  himself.  The 
gourd  was  not  a  sentient  being — was  not  a  sufferer.  Yet  Jonah 
deplored  the  loss  of  the  gourd,  and  in  this  point  of  view  the  antith- 
esis bears.  The  scope  of  the  antithesis  is  essentially  this : — Thou, 
Jonah,  wast  pained  at  the  rain  of  that  gourd,  though  it  had  cost 
thee  nothing,  and  thou  hadst  done  nothing  to  interest  thy  heart  in 
its  welfare,  and  it  is  a  short-lived  thing  at  best:  should  not  I,  much 
more,  deprecate  the  ruin  of  that. great  city,  Nineveh,  in  which  are 
more  than  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  "human  Icings  (so  the 
Hebrew  specially  denotes)  who  have  not  yet  reached  the  period  of 
moral  accountability,  and  also  many  cattle  who  never  reach  it  ?  These 
are  all  sentient  beings;  their  happiness  is  a  positive  good  to  them, 
and  therefore  to  me.  They  have  not  sinned  against  me ;  shall  I  not, 
therefore,  spare  the  city  if  I  can  do  so  safely  and  wisely ;  spare  it 
especially  for  the  sake  of  the  unsinning  beings  who  are  in  it  and 
who  must  be  involved  in  its  doom  if  it  falls  ? Thus  it  is  vegeta- 
ble life  on  the  one  hand  against  animal  life  on  the  other;  a  shrub 
against  a  babe  or  a  lamb.  Tor  the  shrub  Jonah  had  done  nothing 
to  enlist  his  sympathies,  but  God  implies  that  he  has  been  watch- 
ing over  these  infants  and  the  lambs  too.  with  a  Father's  tender 
care,  and  has  good  reason,  thcr  ted  in  their 

mess. 


JONAH.— CHAP.  IV.  XS1 

The  passage  makes  useful  and  rich  revelations  in  respect  to  the 
feelings  of  the  great  God  as  to  those  fearful  judgments  which  fall 
on  the  wicked,  but  which,  as  the  world  is,  must  involve  some  inno- 
cent beings — a  part  of  them  innocent  as  having  not  yet  reached  suf- 
ficient intelligence  to  make  them  morally  accountable,  and  others 
as  not  having  by  nature  any  moral  attributes.  In  the  light  of  this 
passage  it  becomes  altogether  plain  that  God  always  takes  into  ac- 
count the  case  of  these  sinless  sufferers,  and  regards  their  presence 
as  itself  a  plea  for  sparing  the  guilty.  Of  course  he  will  give  this 
plea  all  the  consideration  which  the  nature  of  the  case  will  allow. 
He  will  punish,  in  forms  that  necessarily  involve  the  unsinning  in 
the  general  ruin,  only  when  the  ends  of  a  moral  system  impera- 
tively demand  it.  Who  can  estimate  the  amount  of  sparing  mercy 
which  the  guilty  of  our  world,  owe,  in  this  life,  to  God's  pity  for 
infants  and  for  the  sentient  but  unsinning  animal  races  ? 


MIOAH 


INTEODUCTION. 

Micah,  a  name  abbreviated  from  Micaiah,  which  signifies — 
Who  is  like  God?  was  of  Moresheth-gath,  a  city  near  Eleutheropo- 
lis,  and  not  far  from  the  country  of  the  Philistines.  His  introduc- 
tory verse  states  that  he  prophesied  in  the  reigns  of  Jotham,  Ahaz, 
and  Hezekiah,  kings  of  Judah.  As  the  two  former  reigned  each 
sixteen  years  and  the  latter  twenty-nine,  the  entire  duration  of  his 
ministry  possible  withiu  this  statement  is  sixty-one  years.  He  was 
contemporary  with  Isaiah,  who  dates  one  vision  "  in  the  year  that 
king  Uzziah,  the  father  of  Jotham,"  "died"  (6  : 1),  and  who  was 
certainly  in  active  service  as  a  prophet  under  Hezekiah.  Interest- 
ing collateral  evidence  that  Micah  prophesied  in  the  reign  of  Heze- 
kiah is  found  in  Jer.  20  :  17-19.  While  some  of  the  priests,  princes, 
and  false  prophets  demanded  that  Jeremiah  should  die  for  the  al- 
leged crime  of  speaking  against  the  royal  city,  certain  of  the  elders 
rose  up  to  defend  him  with  this  plea :  "  Micah,  the  Morasthite, 
prophesied  in  the  days  of  Hezekiah  king  of  Judah,  and  spake  to 
all  the  people  of  Judah  (very  publicly),  saying :  '  Thus  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts,  Zion  shall  be  ploughed  like  a  field,  and  Jerusalem 
shall  become  heaps,  and  the  mountain  of  the  house  as  the  high 
places  of  the  forest.'  Did  Hezekiah  king  of  Judah  and  all  Judah  put 
him  at  all  to  death? "  &c.     See  the  original  passage  (Micah  3  :  12). 

This  Micah  was  not  that  noble  Micaiah,  son  of  Imlah,  whom 
Ahab  did  not  love  because  he  told  him  too  much  unwelcome  truth. 
(See  1  Kings  22).     Ahab  died  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  years 

before  Jotham  came  to  the  throne. Micah,  the  author,  also  spake 

bold  and  fearless  words  for  God  and  righteousness.     He  spake  con- 


MICAH.— CnAP.    I. 


183 


cerning  both  Samaria  and  Jerusalem,  mostly  the  latter,  exposing 
and  rebuking  their  sins.  He  predicted  the  destruction  of  both 
cities.  He  expatiated  on  the  final  glory  of  Zion,  the  real  kingdom 
of  the  Messiah,  in  words  of  great  beauty  and  power. 

It  is  important  to  a  full  understanding  of  the  work  of  these 
prophets  that  we  think  of  their  relations  to  the  throne,  stemming 
the  tide  of  wickedness  under  such  reigns  as  that  of  Ahaz;  power- 
fully aiding  the  work  of  reform  under  such  good  kings  as  Hezekiah. 
Contemporary  with  these  two  kings  were  Micah,  Hosea,  Isaiah,  and 
If  ahum. 


CHAPTER    I. 

The  sin  and  doom  of  Samaria,  embracing  of  course  the  kingdom 
of  which  it  was  the  capital,  constitute  the  leading  themes  in  this 
chapter.  Vs.  10-16  describe  the  effects  of  the  Assyrian  invasion 
as  it  swept  along  over  a  line  of  cities  that  lay  in  his  path. 

1.  The  -word  of  the  Loed  that  came  to  Micah  the 
Morasthite  in  the  days  of  Jotham,  Ahaz,  and  Heze- 
kiah, kings  of  Jndahj  which  he  saw  concerning  Samaria 
and  Jerusalem. 

2.  Hear,  all  ye  people;  hearken,  O  earth,  and  all 
that  therein  is  :  and  let  the  Lord  God  be  witness  against 
you,  the  Lord  from  his  holy  temple. 

3.  For  behold,  the  Loed  cometh  forth  out  of  his 
place,  and  will  come  down,  and  tread  upon  the  high 
places  of  the  earth. 

4.  And  the  mountains  shall  be  molten  under  him, 
and  the  valleys  shall  be  cleft,  as  wax  before  the  fire,  and 
as  the  waters  that  are  poured  down  a  steep  place. 

The  prophet  summons  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  to  hear. 
Practically,  they  are  supposed  to  be  convened  for  a  great  judgment 
scene,  and  the  Almighty  God  comes  down  from  his  throne  in 
heaven  to  appear  as  a  witness  against  them  for  their  sins.  His 
coming  down  is  portrayed  with  wonderful  grandeur.  "  See  !  the 
Lord  comes  out  of  his  place:  he  comes  down:  he  treads  on  the 
high  places  of  the  earth,"  as  if  his  glorious  footsteps  rested  only 
on  the  mountain  tops ;  and  "  the  mountains  are  molten  "  under  the 
touch  of  his  feet;  new  valleys  are  cleft;  the  solid  hills  melt  as  wax 
before  the  fire,  and  flow  as  water  leaping  down  a  precipice.  Such 
convulsions  of  nature  betoken  the  majesty  of  nature's  God! 


134  MICAH.— CHAP.  I. 

5.  For  the  transgression  of  Jacob  is  all  this,  and  for 
the  sins  of  the  house  of  Israel.  What  is  the  transgres- 
sion of  Jacob  ?  is  it  not  Samaria  ?  and  what  are  the 
high  places  of  Jndah  ?  are  they  not  Jerusalem  ? 

Why  is  all  this?  "For  the  transgression  of  Jacob,  and  the  sins 
of  the  house  of  Israel."  God  comes  down  to  take  account  of  the 
great  sins  of  his  covenant  people,  and  to  bring  on  them  retribution 
therefor.  This  great  judgment  to  which  all  the  nations  are  con- 
vened is,  for  the  present,  that  of  the  covenant  people  only  ;  but  the 
Gentile  nations  may  well  ask — "If  judgment  begin  at  the  house  of 
God,  what  shall  the  end  be  of  them  that  obey  not  the  gospel  of 
God  ?  And  if  the  righteous  scarcely  be  saved,  where  shall  the  un- 
godly and  the  sinner  appear  ?  " Indeed,  this  judgment  of  Judah 

and  Israel  is  of  most  vital  concern  to  all  the  nations  of  the  earth, 
since  in  it  and  from  it  they  may  learn  the  ways  of  God's  reign  over 
all  nations,  and  the  doom  which  awaits  them  unless  they  repent. 

"  What  is  the  transgression  of  Jacob  ?  Is  it  not  Samaria  ? "  That 

is,  is  it  not  found  in  Samaria,  concentrated,  embodied,  developed 
there,  viz.,  in  her  idolatry,  her  violence,  injustice,  pride,  and  general 
corruption  of  morals  ?     So  also  Jerusalem  had  taken  the  lead  in  the 

idolatries  and  corruptions  of   Judah. The  phrase  "house    of 

Israel,"  in  the  second  clause  of  this  verse,  refers  specially  to  Judah, 

as  is  shown  by  the  last  clauses  of  the  verse. From  this  point 

forward  through  the  chapter,  the  doom  of- Samaria  and  her  king- 
dom is  the  main  subject. 

6.  Therefore,  I  will  make  Samaria  as  an  heap  of  the 
field,  and  as  plantings  of  a  vineyard :  and  I  will  pour 
down  the  stones  thereof  into  the  valley,  and  I  will  dis- 
cover the  foundations  thereof. 

This  is  a  picture  of  utter  desolation.  "Heaps  of  the  field," 
said  of  a  city,  shows  a  surprising  contrast  to  what  it  was.  Once 
full  of  noble  buildings,  now  only  piles  of  ruins,  heaps  of  stones  and 
furrows  cast  up  by  the  plough.  So  Samaria  returns  back  to  the 
status  of  a  plantation  with  its  ploughed  fields  and  vineyards.  Its 
stones  are  tumbled  down  the  hill  on  which  the  city  stood  to  fill  the 
valley  below,  and  the  very  foundations  on  which  it  stood  are  laid 
bare.  Modern  travellers  testify  to  the  precisely  literal  fulfilment  of 
these  words,  saying  that  the  valley  adjacent  to  the  hill  of  Samaria 
is  full  of  the  stones  which  once  had  a  place  in  her  houses  and  idol 
temples.     So  the  words  of  the  Lord  never  fail. 

7.  And  all  the  graven  images  thereof  shall  be  beaten 
to  pieces,  and  all  the  hires  thereof  shall  be  burned  with 
the.  fire,  and  all  the  idols  thereof  will  I  lay  desolate :  for 
she  gathered  it  of  the  hire  of  an  harlot,  and  they  shall 
return  to  the  hire  of  an  harlot. 


MIC  AH.— CHAP.   I.  155 

As  is  usual  and  altogether  right,  God's  judgments  follow  and 
point  out  the  great  sins  they  come  to  punish.  Hence,  the  altar  and 
all  that  pertains  to  idolatry  come  up  in  remembrance  before  God  in 

the  day  of  his  visitation,  as  appears  in  this  verse. The  original 

word  rendered  "  the  hires  "  thereof,  carries  the  mind  to  the  income 
derived  to  the  city  from  its  idol  altars,  temples,  and  worship.  The 
word  refers  primarily  to  harlot-hire — the  wages  of  prostitution — 
and  is  applied  to  the  money  profits  of  idolatry,  under  that  current 
prophetic  usage  which  speaks  of  idolatry  as  itself  harlotry.  The 
last  clause  of  the  verse  says  that,  as  Samaria  had  accumulated  her 
wealth  and  splendor  by  this  sort  of  harlot-hire,  idolatry,  and  its 
wages,  her  people  shall  return  to  harlot-hire  in  the  literal  sense — 
<"0  that  lowest  of  all  pursuits  for  a  living — the  life  of  a  common 
prostitute.  If  not  to  this  precisely  and  literally,  yet  to  a  sort  of 
life  analogous  to  this  and  fitly  represented  by  it. How  inexpress- 
ibly appalling  is  such  a  doom ! 

8.  Therefore,  I  will  wail  and  howl ;  I  will  go  stripped 
and  naked  :  I  will  make  a  wailing  like  the  dragons,  and 
mourning  as  the  owls. 

It  cannot  appear  strange  that  the  prophet  should  pause  over 
such  a  doom  and  say — "  Therefore,"  for   this  "  I  will  wail  and 

howl." "Dragons,"  in  the  sense  of  sea-monsters,  are  not  the 

animals  here  intended,  but  probably  jackals  or  wolves.  Either  of 
these,  in  oriental  countries,  make  night  hideous  with  their  howling. 
The  best  modern  critics  concur  in  rendering  the  last  word  not 
"  owl,"  but  ostrich.  The  latter  were  distinguished  for  their  plain- 
tive cry  far  out  on  the  desert. 

9.  For  her  wound  is  incurable ;  for  it  is  come  nnto 
Jndah ;  he  is  come  nnto  the  gate  of  my  people,  even  to 
Jerusalem. 

The  blow  that  fell  on  Samaria  and  the  ten-tribe  kingdom  was 
fatal.  It  swept  the  nation  into  a  hopeless  captivity,  and  laid  the 
whole  land  utterly  desolate.  It  also  alarmed  Judah.  Under  Sen- 
nacherib and  Rabshakeh,  this  same  Assyrian  power  even  came 
within  sight  of  Jerusalem,  and  might  be  said  to  have  reached  her 
gates. 

10.  Declare  ye  it  not  at  Gath,  weep  ye  not  at  all :  in 
the  house  of  Aphrah  roll  thyself  in  the  dust. 

The  remaining  part  of  this  chapter  is  a  graphic  painting  of  the 
first  results  of  the  Assyrian  invasion,  as  they  were  felt  in  one  city 
after  another  along  the  line  of  his  march.  In  most  of  the  cases 
the  things  said  of  each  city  are  a  play  upon  the  significant  name  of 
that  city — a  method  of  writing  well  adapted  to  impress  the  idea 
upon  the  memory.  Sometimes  there  is  simply  a  resemblance  in 
sound  between  the  prominent  word  spoken  of  a  city  and  the  namo 


l$Q  MICAH.— CHAP.  I. 

of  that  city.  Both  of  these  cases  fall  under  the  figure  of  speech 
technically  called  a  paronomasia.  The  latter  form  of  it — resem- 
blance in  sounds — is  of  course  untranslatable.  The  other  form — a 
play  upon  the  significance  of  the  name  of  a  city — is  as  if  one 
should  exclaim:  What!  is  there  quarrelling  in  Concord;  war  in 
Salem  [Peace] ;  family  feuds  in  Philadelphia  [Brotherly  Love] ; 
slavery  in  Freetown  ?  * 

"  Tell  it  not  in  Gath,"  comes  from  David's  lament  over  Saul  and 
Jonathan.     The  idea  is — Let  not  the  enemies  of  Zion  hear  of  her 

sad  fall. Modern  critics  read  the  next  clause,   "  weep  not  in 

Ako,"  with  which  the  Hebrew  word  for  "  weep"  (baka)  gives  us 
a  case  of  paranomasiay  better  seen  when  the  Hebrew  preposition 
(b)  is  put  before  ako,  as  in  the  original,  making  it  lalco.  This 
city  fell  within  the  sweep  of  this  march  of  the  desolating  army. 
So  did  Aphrah,  which  means  dust.  "In  the  idutV  city,  roll 
thyself  in  the  '  dust.''  "  Weeping  is  too  feeble  an  expression  for  a 
ruin  so  terrible.  To  roll  thyself  in  the  dust  is  befitting,  and  there- 
fore enjoined. 

11.  Pass  ye  away,  tliou  inhabitant  of  Saphir,  having 
thy  shame  naked :  the  inhabitant  of  Zaanan  came  not 
forth  in  the  mourning  of  Beth-ezel ;  he  shall  receive  of 
you  his  standing. 

12.  For  the  inhabitants  of  Maroth  waited  carefully 
for  good :  but  evil  came  clown  from  the  Lord  unto  the 
gate  of  Jerusalem. 

13.  O  thou  inhabitant  of  Lachish,  bind  the  chariot 
to  the  swift  beast :  she  is  the  beginning  of  the  sin  to  the 
daughter  of  Zion :  for  the  transgressions  of  Israel  were 
found  in  thee. 

14.  Therefore  shalt  thou  give  presents  to  Moresheth- 
gath  :  the  houses  of  Achzib  shall  be  a  lie  to  the  kings  of 
Israel. 

15.  Yet  will  I  bring  an  heir  unto  thee,  O  inhabitant 
of  Mareshah :  he  shall  come  unto  Adullam  the  glory  of 
Israel. 

I  translate  these  verses  rather  freely,  in  order  to  give  as  fully  as 
possible  the  same  play  upon  the  words — by  paranomasia — that  I 

*  Isaiah,  contemporary  with  Micah,  is  equally  remarkable  for  his  free 
use  of  paronomasia.  A  beautiful  example  is  in  Isa.  5  :  7 — "He  looked  for 
judgment,  but  behold  bloodshed  ;  for  righteousness,  but  behold  an  outcry." 
That  is,  he  looked  for  BBttb,  and  lo,  MSISE  ;  for  nj^S  and  lo,  ilJJSS. 
The  Hebrew  reader  will  notice  that  the  prominent  antithetic  words  are  as 
like  as  possible  in  sound,  but  as  unlike  as  possible  in  sense.  Herein  lie 
the  beauty  and  force  of  this  figure  of  speech.  It  is  as  if  an  English  writer 
should  say — He  looked  for  the  law  of  ngMt  but  lo,  the  law  of  migld ;  ho 
looked  for  good,  but  behold,  blood. 


HICAH.— CHAP.  I.  137 

find  in  the  origincal,  and  also  to  give  the  ultimate  sense.  To  aid  the 
reader  yet  more,  I  pat  the  correlated  words  in  italics.  "  Pass  ye 
on,  ye  dwellers  in  Saphir  (the  beautiful  city),  in  utter  nakedness" 
(as  those  who  flee,  stripped  hy  the  ravages  of  war) ;  "  the  dwellers 
in  Zaanan  "  (the  city  of  flocks),  "  do  not  flock  out  to  the  mourning 
of  Beth-ezel:  "  "from  you"  (i.  e.,  of  JBeth-ezcl,  city  of  firm  root), 
"  will  he,  the  conqueror  take  his  camping-ground  ;  "  L  c,  he  will 
make  his  camp — his  place  of  halting  and  stay  there  (hence  their 
mourning — to  which  the  people  of  Zaanan  do  not  flock  out  to  sym- 
pathize with  them,   though  neighbors — having  sorrow   and   fear 

enough  at  home). "For  the  dwellers  in  Mar oth"  (the  city  of 

bitterness)  "  are  in  anguish  for  some  good  "  (all  good  being  lost  to 
them) ;  "  but  evil  comes  down  from  the  Lord,  even  to  the  gates  of 
Jerusalem."  How,  then,  can  one  of  the  lesser  feeble  cities,  like 
Maroth,  hope  for  any  good  ?     It  is  only  natural  that  a  "  Maroth," 

city  of  bitterness,  should  be  in  bitter  grief  and  destruction. 

This  "  evil  came  to  the  gate  of  Jerusalem  " — no  farther.  The  Assyrian 
invader  never  sacked  Jerusalem.  The  blow  that  smote  the  king- 
dom of  the  ten  tribes  fatally,  may  have  alarmed  Jerusalem ;  it  left 
her  untouched.      The  invasion  of  Sennacherib  a  few  years  .later 

proved  the  ruin  of  himself,  not  of  Jerusalem. "  Bind  the  chariot 

to  the  fleet  steed  "  (for  rapid  flight) — "  thou  dweller  oi  Lachish  "  (the 
smitten  city),  "the  first  cause  of  sin  was  she"  (Lachish),  "to  the 
daughter  of  Zion,  for  in  thee  were  found  the  sins  of  Israel."  La- 
chish lay  on  the  southern  border  of  the  ten  tribes,  and  being  not  far 
from  Jerusalem,  became  the  channel  through  which  the  temptations 
to  idolatry  passed  over  from  Israel,  after  the  revolt,  into  Jerusalem. 

Hence  this  special   judgment  on  Lachish. In  the  first  clause 

Micah  has  a  paranomasia  which  is  untranslatable  between  "La- 
chish" and  "Eekesh,"  the  word  for  fleet  steed. 

"  Therefore  shalt  thou  "  (Israel)  "  give  divorce  papers  to  More- 
sheth-gath  ;  " — though  her  name  signifies  city  of  possession,  thou 
must  forego  all  possession  of  her  and  let  her  go  before  the  destroyer. 

"  The  houses  of  Achzib'1''  (city  of  lies)  shall  be  for  a  lie  to  the 

kings  of  Israel" — no  dependence  in    their  need. "Yet  will  I 

bring  an  heir"  (one  who  shall  possess)  "to  thee,  O  dweller  of 
Mareshah" — which  name  seems  here  to  mean  city  of  possession. 

This  heir  is  the  conqueror. "  He,"  this  conqueror,  shall  come 

even  to  Aclullam,  which  means  justice  of  the  people — and  this  sig- 
nificance, if  realized,  would  be  "  the  glory  of  IsraeV 

This  passage  (vs.  10-15)  is  admitted  to  be  extremely  difficult. 
No  doubt  it  was  intelligible  in  the  age  of  Micah,  though  somewhat 
enigmatical.  But  such  nice,  delicate  allusions  to  cities  and  their 
significant  names  must  inevitably  become  obscure  by  the  lapse  of 
ages,  and  the  oblivion  of  those  associations  of  thought  with  cities 
and  their  names  which  are  in  their  nature  incidental  and  tem- 
porary. 

16.  Make  thee  bald,  and  poll  thee  for  thy  delicate 


188  MICAH.— CHAP.  II. 

children ;  enlarge  thy  baldness  as  the  eagle ;  for  they 
are  gone  into  captivity  from  thee. 

The  eagle  is  referred  to  as  an  illustration  of  baldness.  Tearing 
out  the  hair,  or  even  cutting  it  off,  were  usual  signs  of  extreme 
grief.  Hence  the  prophet  exhorts  Israel,  considered  as  the  mother 
of  her  people,  to  go  into  mourning  for  her  children,  because  they  are 

gone  away  into  captivity,  to  return  no  more, Except  in  the  use 

of  the  paranomasia,  the  passage  (Isa.  10  :  28-32)  is  strikingly  analo- 
gous to  this  (Mic.  1 :  10-16).  There  Isaiah  sketches  the  advance  ot 
Sennacherib's  host  toward  Jerusalem,  by  noting  its  effects  of  panic, 
mourning,  or  flight,  on  various  cities  as  he  approached.  Here 
Micah  describes  a  similar  march  of  an  Assyrian  army  to  destroy 
the  northern  kingdom,  and  to  alarm  the  southern. 


CHAPTER    II. 

This  chapter  presents  the  sins  of  the  people  (vs.  1,  2) ;  God's 
threatenings  (v.  3) ;  lamentations  over  her  doom  (vs.  4,  5) ;  the  gain- 
saying of  a  wicked  people  against  God  and  his  prophets  (v.  6) ;  the 
prophet's  indignant  reply  (v.  7) ;  a  further  description  of  their  sins 
(vs.  8,  9) ;  the  sort  of  prophets  the  people  choose  (v.  11)  ;  and  prom- 
ises of  good  (vs.  12,  13). 

1.  Woe  to  them  that  devise  iniquity,  and  work  evil 
upon  their  beds  !  "When  the  morning  is  light,  they  prac- 
tise it,  becanse  it  is  in  the  power  of  their  hand. 

This  woe  fitly  comes  down,  not  on  those  who  sin  inadvertently, 
or  only  under  the  impulse  of  sudden  temptation,  but  on  those  who 
coolly  and  with  the  clear-headed  thought  of  the  night-watches, 
frame  plans  of  mischief  and  work  out  schemes  for  wrong,  to  be 
executed  in  the  morning ;  and  who  are  wicked  enough  for  all  the 
mischief  their  hands  have  the  power  to  do. 

2.  And  they  covet  fields,  and  take  them  by  violence  ; 
and  houses,  and  take  them  away :  so  they  oppress  a  man 
and  his  house,  even  a  man  and  his  heritage. 

"Oppressing  a  man  and  his  house"  means  robbing  not  him 
alone,  but  his  family  as  well.  They  take  away  property  in  which 
his  wife  and  children  have  their  living.  This  is  the  same  class  of 
sins  which  Amos  and  Isaiah  rebuke  so  sharply. 

3.  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  Behold,  against 
this  family  do  I  devise  an  evil,  from  which  ye  shall  not 
remove  your  necks  ;  neither  shall  ye  go  haughtily :  for 
this  time  is  evil. 

The  idea  of  retaliation  and  of  just  retribution  stands  out  clearly 


MIC  All.— CHAP.  II.  189 

in  the  very  form  of  the  prophet's  expressions:  Tliey  devise  iniquity; 
God  devises  calamity  to  punish  it.  They  devise  it  iqwn  their  beds  ; 
God  devises  it  upon  this  whole  family — the  prophet  choosing  a 
word  for  family,  which  has  the  leading  radicals  of  the  word  for  bed. 

God's  calamities  shall  be  on  them  as  a  yoke  which  they  cannot 

throw  off,  and  under  which  they  can  no  longer  walk  proudly,  carry- 
ing their  heads  high— for  the  prophet's  words  have  this  sense. 

4.  In  that  day  shall  one  take  up  a  parable  against 
you,  and  lament  with  a  doleful  lamentation,  ana  say, 
We  be  utterly  spoiled :  he  hath  changed  the  portion  of 
my  people  :  how  hath  lie  removed  it  from  me !  turning 
away  he  hath  divided  our  fields. 

The  best  lexicographers  would  read  the  second  clause — not? 
"lament  with  a  doleful  lamentation,"  but  thus — u  And  wail  in  a 
dirge  of  wailing,  It  is  done!'''1  i.e.,  all  is  over!   "and  say,  we  are 

utterly  spoiled!  " "  Changing  the  portion  of  my  people"  means 

here  changing  the  title  to  their  landed  estates,  and  hence  implies 

that  they  lose  possession  of  their  country. The  last  clause  better 

— "He  hath  apportioned  our  fields  to  one  who  takes  them  all  away 
from  us  " — i.  c,  God  has  given  them  all  to  the  conqueror  of  our 
country. 

5.  Therefore  thou  shalt  have  none  that  shall  cast  a 
cord  by  lot  in  the  congregation  of  the  Loud. 

Consequently  there  shall  be  none  to  setoff  their  land  to  them  by 
lot  in  the  public  congregation.  "  Cord  "  is  used  here  for  a  measur- 
ing line  for  land.  The  soil  has  passed  into  the  hands  of  a  foreign 
power.     This  is  one  of  then-  bitter  plaints. 

6.  Prophesy  ye  not,  say  they  to  them  that  prophesy  : 
they  shall  not  prophesy  to  them,  that  they  shall  not  take 
shame. 

7.  O  thou  that  art  named  the  house  of  Jacob,  is  the 
Spirit  of  the  Loud  straitened  ?  are  these  his  doings  %  do 
not  my  words  do  good  to  him  that  walketh  uprightly  % 

At  this  point,  the  ungodly  people  interpose  to  gainsay  the 
prophet,  forbidding  him  to  prophesy,  and  suggesting  the  sort  of 
prophet  they  would  have.  The  passage  is  quite  obscure,  the  tran- 
sitions being  abrupt,  and  the  point  where  the  objector's  language 
closes  and  the  prophet's  reply  begins,  being  a  matter  of  some  doubt. 
Thus,  among  the  ablest  critics  now  before  me,  Rosenmuller  assigns 
to  the  objector  less  than  half  of  v.  6  ;  Henderson  precisely  v.  6, 
and  no  more  ;  Hengstenberg  apparently,  vs.  6  and  V.  1  find  the  best 
point  of  transition  from  the  objector  to  the  prophet  at  the  close  of 
v.  6,  and  translate  thus:  "  Prophesy  not ;  let  those  prophesy  who 
will  not  prophesy  as  to  such  things  ;  reproaches  will  never  cease." 


190  MICAH.— CHAP.  II. 

This  is  their  demand  and  this  their  complaint.  They  say — We  can't 
hear  any  more  such  prophesying ;  let  us  have  another  sort  of  men 
who  will  not  say  such  hard  things; — there  is  no  end  to  your  faul- 

finding. Then  the  prophet  resumes  in  v.  7,  "  Shall  this  be  said 

in  the  house  of  Jacob  ? "  "Is  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  to  be  strait- 
ened %  " — i,  6mt)  to  be  dictated  to  by  mortal  man  ?  "  Are  these  his 
doings?"  i.  e.,  is  it  his  fault  that  he  mast  predict  calamity?  Is  it 
not  rather  your  sins  that  bring  down  the  wrath  and  curse  of  God  ? 

"  Do  not  my  words  always  bless  him  who  walketh  uprightly  ?  " 

This  is  the  beginning  of  the  prophet's  reply. 1  dissent  from  the 

English  version — "  O  thou  that  art  named  the  house  of  Jacob:"  (1.) 
Because  this  verb  without  any  preposition  following,  seems  not  to 
be  used  in  the  sense  to  name;  (2.)  And  mainly,  because,  beyond  all 
question,  this  first  clause  is  interrogative  and  not  vocative.  There 
are  four  distinct  questions  asked  in  this  verse,  each  indicated  by  its 
interrogative  particle.  There  is,  therefore,  as  much  reason  for 
making  this  first  clause  a  question  as  either  of  the  three  that  follows. 
Beyond  a  doubt,  each  of  the  four  is  an  interrogative  clause.  The 
first  expresses  the  surprise  and  horror  felt  by  the  prophet  that  men 
should  arise  in  the  house  of  Jacob  to  say  such  things  in  the  way  of 
dictation  to  the  Almighty ! The  construction  of  v.  G  is  exceed- 
ingly obscure.    The  sense  I  have  given  is  a  choice  among  difficulties. 

8.  Even  of  late  my  people  is  risen  up  as  an  enemy : 
ye  pull  off  the  robe  with  the  garment  from  them  that 
pass  by  securely  as  men  averse  from  war. 

9.  The  women  of  my  people  have  ye  cast  ont  from 
their  pleasant  houses  ;  from  their  children  have  ye  taken 
away  my  glory  for  ever. 

These  verses  are  interposed  here  to  show  that  the  objectors  who 
cavil  against  the  prophets  of  the  Lord  do  not  themselves  "  walk  up- 
rightly." Then  v.  10  warns  them  out  of  the  land;  and  v.  11  returns 

to  tell  them  what  sort  of  a  prophet  they  choose,  and  shall  have. 

The  words  "Even  of  late"  do  not  necessarily  imply  that  the  event 

is  very  recent. The  horrible  thing  is  that  "  my  people,"  God's 

own  people,  "  should  have  risen  up,"  i.  e.,  in  their  full  strength, 
"to  become  an  enemy  "  to  every  man's  rights  and  interests — a 
public  enemy  to  all.  For  instance,  "  they  strip  off  both  the  outer 
robe  and  the  inner  from  men  passing  along  securely "  with  no 
thought  of  danger,  "returning  from  war."  Their  worn  and  weary 
soldiers,  returning  from  hard  service  for  their  country,  they  fall 
upon,  and  rob  and  strip  even  to  the  skin ;  for  the  common  oriental 
dress  included  only  these  two  garments,  the  outer  robe  and  the 

inner. "  The  wives   among    my  people  ye   expel  from  their 

pleasant  houses,  and  from  their  children  ye  take  away  my  orna- 
ments "  (the  good  clothing  I  have  given  them),  and  never  return  it 
— "  take  it  away  for  ever."  These  are  named  as  instances  and 
illustrations  of  then*  rapacity  and  wickedness,  to  show  what  is 


MICAH.— CHAP.  II.  191 

meant  by  their  "rising  up  as  an  enemy."  Bad  as  any  foreign 
enemy  were  they  even  toward  the  soldiers  of  their  country  return- 
ing from  war,  and  toward  wives  and  children  who,  being  depend- 
ent and  defenceless,  are  specially  under  God's  protection. 

10.  Arise  ye,  and  depart  ;  for  this  is  not  your  rest : 
because  it  is  polluted,  it  shall  destroy  you,  even  with  a 
sore  destruction. 

"  Up,  and  away  " — be  out  of  this  land ;  "  for  this  is  not  your 
rest."  God  gave  Canaan  as  a  land  of  rest  to  his  people,  but  never 
to  such  apostates  as  you !  They  had  so  polluted  the  land  by  their 
sins  that  it  should  itself  destroy  them.  The  very  land  is  thought  of 
as  instinct  with  life,  and  fired  with  holy  indignation  to  devour  these 
guilty  inhabitants ! 

11.  If  a  man  walking  in  the  spirit  and  falsehood  do 
lie,  saying,  I  will  prophesy  unto  thee  of  wine  and  of 
strong  drink;  he  shall  even  be  the  prophet  of  this 
people. 

Having  shown  (vs.  8,  9)  that  these  cavillers  against  the  Lord's 
prophets  do  not  "walk  uprightly,"  and  having  (v.  10)  warned  them 
out  of  the  land  as  their  lit  doom,  he  comes  now  to  describe  the  sort 

of  prophet  they  would  like  and  shall  have. "  Tf  a  man  walking 

in  wind  and  falsehood  will  lie  for  them,  and  will  prophesy  to  them 
(not  of  but)  for  wine  and  strong  drink" — taking  his  pay  in  those 
articles  as  meeting  his  chief  want — "he  shall  be  the  prophet  of  this 
people."  The  middle  clause  is  in  the  first  person,  as  in  our  English 
Bible,  giving  us  the  very  words  of  his  proposal — "I  will  proph- 
esy for  you  if  you  will  give  me  all  the  wine  and  strong  drink  I 
want."    Fit  showing  of  the  depth  of  degradation  into  which  wicked 

men  would  sink  the  prophetic  office,  if  they  could ! The  first 

point  in  this  description  is  richly  graphic : — "  If  a  man  walking  in 
wind  and  lies  will  he  for  them  all  they  wish,"  &c.  Men  who  are 
windy,  gassy,  full  of  talk  but  void  of  sense  and  thought,  and  utterly 
reckless  of  truth— such  are  commonly  in  every  age  the  high  priests 

of  error  and  falsehood,  the  champions  of  religious  delusion. For 

this  use  of  the  word  "wind"  to  denote  what  is  empty,  light  as  air 
and  worthless,  see  Isa.  41 :  29,  "  Their  molten  images  are  wind 
and  confusion ;"  and  Job  1G :  3 ,  "Is  there  any  end  to  words  of 
wind  ?  " 

12.  I  will  surely  assemble,  O  Jacob,  all  pf  thee  ;  I 
will  surely  gather  the  remnant  of  Israel ;  I  will  put  them 
together  as  the  sheep  of  Bozrah,  as  the  flock  in  the  midst 
of  their  fold :  they  shall  make  great  noise  by  reason  of 
the  multitude  of  men. 

13.  The  breaker  is  come  up  before  them :  they  have 


192  MICAH.— CHAP.  II. 

broken  up,  and  have  passed  through  the  gate,  and  are 
gone  out  by  it ;  and  their  king  shall  pass  before  them, 
and  the  Loed  on  the  head  of  them. 

This  sudden  transition  to  the  richest  promises  of  restoration  and 
salvation  is  indeed  remarkable.  It  would  seem  that  the  divine 
Spirit,  fired  with  indignation  in  view  of  such  depths  of  moral  pollu- 
tion and  guilt,  rallies  himself  to  the  defence  of  his  own  cause  of 
truth:  "I  will  surely  save  my  people,  and  restore  my  crum- 
bling kingdom."     Glorious  turn  of  thought  this — rebounding  from 

the  greatness  of  man's  sin  to  the  richness  of  God's  mercy! 

The  promise  is  that  God  will  surely  gather  together  all  of  Jacob, 
and  all  who  survive  of  Israel ;  will  become  their  shepherd ;  and 
that  there  shall  be  ua  hum"  (so  the  Hebrew)  as  of  bees  in  swarm 
-a  loud  noise  by  reason  of  the  great  number  of  men.  They  are 
thought  of  as  having  been  imprisoned  within  high  walls ;  hence 
"the  breaker"  who  makes  great  breaches  in  this  wall  goes  out 
before  them.  They  break  through ;  they  pass  out  through  the 
gate;  they  go  forth  by  it ;  and  their  king  marches  before  them,  and 

Jehovah  at  their  head. This  deliverance  is  wholly  of  the  Lord. 

His  providential  agencies  are  omnipresent,  and  his  Spirit  inspires 

the  movement. The  allusion  in  this  passage  to  the  Exodus  from 

Egypt  should  be  noticed.  Here,  as  there,  the  people  are  first 
gathered  together;  the  Lord  takes  charge  of  them  as  his  flock;  then 
he  sends  Moses  to  break  down  the  prison  walls.  The  Exodus,  or 
going  forth,  is  made  prominent  here  by  repeated  reiterations,  as  it 
was  there  in  the  historic  facts;  and,  finally,  Jehovah  puts  himself 
here  at  the  head  of  his  ransomed  people,  as  then  and  there  in  the 
pillar  of  fire  and  of  cloud. 

As  to  the  ultimate  significance  of  these  verses,  it  will  be  noted 
that  they  speak  both  of  Jacob  and  Israel;  but  these  terms  are  not 
distinctive  as  between  the  two  rival  kingdoms.  Neither  of  them  is 
the  usual  name  to  designate  the  kingdom  of  Judah.  It  would  seem 
to  be  no  part  of  the  prophet's  intention  to  regard  the  distinction  of 
kingdoms  which  was  made  by  the  revolt.     The  names  Jacob  and 

Israel  have  rather  the  general  sense — the  covenant  people  of  God. 

So  also,  as  to  time  and  circumstances  of  fulfilment,  the  passage  is 
altogether  general  and  indefinite.  Beyond  a  doubt  it  must  imply 
that  God  will  at  some  future  day  gather  his  scattered  people  of 
Israel,  and  put  himself  at  their  head  as  their  Deliverer  and  King. 
He  will  make  his  earthly  kingdom  great  and  glorious.  As  to  the 
question  whether  Gentiles  form  a  part  of  it,  or  whether  Jews 
alone  are  thought  of,  no  more  should  be  sought  in  any  given  pas- 
sage than  it  contains.  Not  every  passage  can  say  every  thing. 
This  prophecy  does  not  name  the  Gentiles,  nor  does  it  exclude  them. 
One  instalment — a  small  one — of  this  broadly  comprehensive 
promise  was  paid  in  the  restoration  from  Babylon.  Vastly  more 
remains  unpaid  yet. 


MIC  AH.— CHAP.   in.  Ij)  3 


CHAPTER    III. 


The  prophet  returns  to  speak  against  the  sins  of  the  people, 
dwelling  specially  in  this  chapter  on  the  sins  of  the  princes  and  judges 
(vs.  1-4,  9-11);  giving  the  sin  and  doom  of  the  false  prophets 
(vs.  5-7) ;  and  closing  with  predictions  of  the  desolation  of  the  holy 
city  and  of  the  temple  mountain  (v.  12). 

1.  And  I  said,  Hear,  I  pray  yon,  O  heads  of  Jacob, 
and  ye  princes  of  the  honse  of  Israel :  Is  it  not  for  you 
to  know  judgment  \ 

"  And  then  I  said,"  &c,  connecting  this  in  thought  with  what 
he  had  said  before.  In  the  previous  chapter  he  had  sharply  re- 
buked and  terribly  doomed  those  who  devise  iniquity  on  their  beds 
(2:  1-5);  now  he  asks,  Why  are  not  such  sins  forestalled  by  the 
faithful  administation  of  justice  and  law?  Does  it  not  behoove 
princes  and  judges — men  at  the  head  of  their  "  thousands  " — (see 
Ex.  18:  21)  "to  know  judgment?"  He  implies  by  this  more 
than  merely  knowing  the  theory  of  law  and  justice.  Ought  they 
not  to  know  it  in  practice,  and  to  see  it  administered  all  the  more 
faithfully  and  earnestly  by  how  much  the  greater  the  reigning 
corruption  ? 

2.  Who  hate  the  good,  and  love  the  evil ;  who  pluck 
off  their  skin  from  off  them,  and  their  flesh  from  off  their 
bones ; 

3.  Who  also  eat  the  flesh  of  my  people,  and  flay  their 
skin  from  off  them ;  and  they  break  their  bones,  and  chop 
them  in  pieces,  as  for  the  pot,  and  as  flesh  within  the 
caldron. 

So  far  are  they  from  knowing  judgment  in  the  practical  sense 
that  they  even  hate  good  and  love  evil,  and  they  show  this  by 

their  deeds. This  description  of  rapacity  and  robbery  is  fearfully 

strong.  They  not  only  fleece  but  flay  their  victims;  not  only  flay 
but  tear  off  the  flesh  and  eat  it ;  then  go  on  to  the  bones ;  chop 
them  fine  for  the  pot,  as  if  they  would  boil  and  eat  up  the  last  thing 
in  the  poor  body  of  their  victims.  So  with  insatiable  extortion, 
they  strip  men  of  their  last  right,  of  their  last  acre,  and  of  their  last 
farthing. 

4.  Then  shall  they  cry  unto  the  Lokd,  but  he  will 
not  hear  them :  he  will  even  hide  his  face  from  them  at  that 
time,  as  they  have  behaved  themselves  ill  in  their  doings. 

Yet  these  men,  of  such  outrageous  extortion,  set  themselves  to 
pray  to  God;  but  of  course  he  will  not  hear.     "  The  prayer  of  the 
wicked  is  abomination  to  the  Lord."     "If  I  regard  iniquity  in  my 
9 


194  MICAH.— CHAP.  III. 

heart  even,  the  Lord  will  not  hear  me ; "  how  ranch  more  when  such 
iniquities  are  found  in  men's  hand !  "  He  will  hide  his  face  from 
them  at  that  time  according*  as  they  have  made  their  doings  vile," 
i.  e.,  inasmuch  as  they  have  done  so  wickedly,  and  according  to  the 
wickedness  of  those  doings,  God  will  hide  his  face  from  them. 

5.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  concerning  the  prophets  that 
make  my  people  err,  that  bite  with  their  teeth,  and  cry, 
Peace ;  and  he  that  putteth  not  into  their  mouths,  they 
even  prepare  war  against  him. 

Turning  from  civil  to  religious  leaders,  vs.  5-7  speak    of  the 

corrupt  prophets  of  that  age. The  clause,  "that  bite  with  their 

teeth,'1  &c,  may  be  construed  in  either  of  two  ways:  (1.)  As  indi- 
cating extortion,  following  out  the  idea  in  vs.  3  :  "Who  eat  the  flesh 
of  my  people ;  "  or  (2.)  As  indicating  gross  and  supreme  sensuality  ; 
who  live  only  to  eat,  and  prophesy  only  for  the  sake  of  good  eating. 
In  the  former  construction,  the  remainder  of  the  verse  might  be  put 
thus  :  "  Who  bite  savagely  with  their  teeth,  yet  cry  '  all's  well ; ' 
and  if  one  resist  their  extortion,  they  even  declare  war  on  him." 
But  the  latter  construction  is  preferable :  "  Who  are  mere  sen- 
sualists, and  for  good  feeding"  will  prophesy  peace  to  the  most 
wicked  of  men  ;  but  if  one  refuse  to  fill  their  mouths  well,  they  are 

up  in  arms  against  him." Such  shamefully  low  impulses"  and 

low  sensual  natures,  ought  to  be  anywhere  else  rather  than  in  the 
sacred  office !  Alas  for  the  people  when  those  who  minister  to 
them  in  holy  things  make  a  god  of  their  belly,  and  live  only  for 
good  eating ! 

6.  Therefore,  night  shall  be  unto  you,  that  ye  shall 
not  have  a  vision ;  and  it  shall  be  dark  unto  you,  that 
ye  shall  not  divine  ;  and  the  sun  shall  go  down  over  the 
prophets,  and  the  day  shall  be  dark  over  them. 

7.  Then  shall  the  seers  be  ashamed,  and  the  diviners 
confounded :  yea,  they  shall  all  cover  their  lips ;  for 
there  is  no  answer  of  God. 

This  is  the  doom  of  these  false,  ungodly  prophets  :  "There  shall 
be  night  to  you  so  that  there  can  be  no  vision ;  it  shall  be  too  dark 
for  you  to  divine;  the  sun  shall  go  down  upon  the  prophets,"  &c. 

"They  shall  cover  their  lips" — as  those  who  have  nothing  to 

say,  and  with  the  further  idea  of  intense  shame  and  sorrow,  inasmuch 
as  the  beard — always  prominent  in  oriental  life — was  to  the  male 
sex  the  seat  of  beauty  and  honor.  The  leper  (Lev.  13  :  45)  was  to 
put  a  cover  on  his  upper  lip.     Ezekiel  (24 :  17,  22)  was  forbidden  to 

cover  his  lips  in  mourning  for  his  deceased  wife. The  cause  of 

this  intense  shame  and  confusion  is  that  they  not  only  get  no  an- 
swer from  God,  but  that  he  frustrates  their  predictions,  confounds 
their  machinations,  and  exposes  the  groundlessness  of  then*  claims 


MIC  AIL— CHAP.   III.  195 

to  be  prophets  of  the  Lord.  The  darkness  God  brings  over  them  is 
that  of  calamity  and  judgment  where  they  were  predicting  only 
good. 

S.  But  truly  I  am  full  of  power  by  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord,  aucl  of  judgment,  and  of  might,  to  declare  unto 
Jacob  his  transgression,  and  to  Israel  his  sin. 

With  a  strong  and  full  consciousness  of  honesty,  and  of  being  filled 
with  the  Spirit  of  God,  Micah  puts  himself  in  contrast  with  those 
false  prophets.  His  soul  is  deeply  stirred  within  him  by  his  abhorrence 
of  their  spirit  and  life,  so  that  his  holy  indignation  overleaps  the  re- 
straints of  false  modesty,  and  he  speaks  out  fearlessly  what  so  tills  his 
indignant  soul  that  he  cannot  but  say  it.  Lie  must  and  will  rebuke 
the  sins  of  the  people  and  of  their  leaders  even ;  for  no  regard  to 
rank  and  station  shall  soften  the  just  severity  of  his  reproofs. 

9.  Hear  this,  I  pray  you,  ye  heads  of  the  house  of 
Jacob,  and  princes  of  the  house  of  Israel,  that  abhor 
judgment,  and  pervert  all  equity. 

io.  They  build  up  Zion  with  blood,  and  Jerusalem 
with  iniquity. 

11.  The  heads  thereof  judge  for  reward,  and  the  priests 
thereof  teach  for  hire,  and  the  prophets  thereof  divine  for 
money :  yet  will  they  lean  upon  the  Lord,  and  say,  Is 
not  the  Lord  among  us  ?  none  evil  can  come  upon  us. 

Once  more,  as  in  v.  1,  he  inveighs  against  the  horrible  corruption 
of  the  princes  and  judges  of  the  land.  With  Judah  specially  in  his 
eye,  he  charges  them  with  abhorring  not  sin  and  wrong,  as  they 
should,  but  judgment  and  justice  as  men  never  should;  and  with 
distorting  and  perverting  equity.  "  They  build  up  Zion  with  blood  " 
by  devoting  the  fruits  of  their  robbery  and  murder  to  splendid 
buildings  and  gorgeous  display.  They  judge  for  bribes  in  open 
contempt  of  the  law  given  through  Moses  (see  Ex.  23  :  8,  and  Dent. 
10:19);  and  yet  they  lean  upon  the  Lord  and  vainly  think  that, 
being  called  the  people  of  God  and  keeping  up  the  forms  of  his 
worship,  they  are  safe  against  calamity.  Jeremiah  rebukes  the  same 
wretched  folly  (7:  4):  "Trust  ye  not  in  lying  words,  saying,  The 
temple  of  the  Lord,  the  temple  of  the  Lord,  the  temple  of  the  Lord, 
are  these."  So  in  later  times,  the  self-righteous,  extortious  Pharisees 
said,  "We  have  Abraham  to  our  father;  " — "Lord,  Lord,  have  we 
not  prophesied  in  thy  name  ? "  &c. 

12.  Therefore  shall  Zion  for  your  sake  be  ploughed 
as  a  field,  and  Jerusalem  shall  become  heaps,  and  the 
mountain  of  the  house  as  the  high  places  of  the  forest. 

Retribution  for  such  sins  must  come.  "Zion" — the  hill  of 
David  in  the  south  part  of  the  city — "  the  mountain  of  the  house  " 


196  MICAH.— CHAP.  IV. 

(temple)  i.  e.,  Mount  Moriah,  the  temple-mountain  on  the  north,  and 
Jerusalem  in  general — shall  become  desolate :  Zion  to  be  ploughed 
as  a  field ;  Jerusalem  to  be  heaps  of  desolate  rains  ;  and  the  temple- 
mountain  "  as  the  high  places  of  a  forest,"  thickly  covered  with  an 
undergrowth  of  shrubs.  This  has  special  reference  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  city  by  the  Chaldeans  when,  for  seventy  years,  even 
Jerusalem  lay  in  utter  desolation. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

The  first  eight  verses  are  a  graphic  prediction  of  God's  restoring 
mercy  to  his  real  Zion;  vs.  9, 10  resume  the  subject  of  the  captivity 
to  Babylon ;  vs.  11-13  note  the  events  of  a  later  period — the  Syrian 
iuvasion,  and  the  heroic  deeds  of  the  Maccabees. 

1.  But  in  the  last  days  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  the 
mountain  of  the  house  of  the  Loed  shall  be  established 
in  the  top  of  the  mountains,  and  it  shall  be  exalted 
above  the  hills ;  and  people  shall  flow  unto  it. 

2.  And  many  nations  shall  come,  and  say,  Come,  and 
let  us  go  up  to  the  mountain  of  the  Loed,  and  to  the 
house  of  the  God  of  Jacob  ;  and  he  will  teach  us  of  his 
ways,  and  we  will  walk  in  his  paths :  for  the  law  shall 
go  forth  of  Zion,  and  the  word  of  the  Loed  from  Jeru- 
salem. 

3.  And  he  shall  judge  among  many  people,  and  re- 
buke strong  nations  afar  off;  and  they  shall  beat  their 
swords  into  plough-shares,  ajad  their  spears  into  pruning- 
hooks:  nation  shall  not  lift  up  a  sword  against  nation, 
neither  shall  they  learn  war  any  more. 

These  words  occur  substantially  in  Isa.  2  :  2-4,  but  appear  to  be 
original  with  Micah.  At  least  it  must  be  admitted  that  here  they 
fit  nicely  to  the  previous  context  (3  :  12),  and  also  to  the  following 
context.     In  Isaiah,  the  passage  has  no  such  close  connection  with 

the  preceding  context. In  this  passage,  the  relation  of  thought 

to  what  precedes  is  the  first  thing  to  be  noted.  Zion  is  seen  in 
ruins ;  the  temple-mountain  dishonored  and  waste — all  for  the 
sins  of  the  covenant  people.  Must  it  hence  be  inferred  that  the 
kingdom  of  God  among  men  is  crushed  down,  never  to  rise?  By 
no  means.  In  the  last  days  this  kingdom  shall  rise  in  far  greater 
glory  than  ever  before.  The  temple-mountain — called  here  "the 
mountain  of  the  house  of  the  Lord"  though  in  3  :  12  it  is  only  "  the 
mountain  of  the  house  " — shall  be  lifted  high  and  firmly  set  on  the 
tops  of  the  other  mountains,  and  high  abovo  all  the  hills  in  glory 


MICAIL— CUAP.  IV.  IQf 

and  esteem.  Such  I  understand  to  be  the  sense  of  tins  striking 
poetic  conception — the  temple-mountain  (Moriah)  lifted  up  and  set 
on  the  top  of  all  other  mountains.  In  honor  it  shall  surpass  and 
overtop  them  all.  In  Ps.  G8: 16,  the  Psalmist,  supposing  the  other 
mountains  to  envy  Mount  Moriah  this  distinction,  says—"  The  hill 
of  God  is  as  the  hill  of  Bashan;  an  high  hill,"  &e.  "Why  do  ye 
look  invidiously,  ye  high  hills  ?  This  is  the  hill  which  God  hath 
desired  to  dwell  in."  Zech.  14:10  carries  the  figure  one  step 
further.  All  the  rest  of  the  world  becomes  a  plain ;  its  mountains 
subside  altogether,  and  then  the  temple-mountain  stands  out  soli- 
tary and  alone,  the  one  great  and  only  mountain  of  the  world  !  The 
sense  here  is  the  same  as  in  Micah — this  mountain,  the  one  place  of 

surpassing  honor,  dignity,  and  glory. Next,  "peoples,  even  all 

the  nations  of  men,  shall  flow  unto  it."  That  they  shall  Jloto  thither 
implies,  not  that  they  are  dragged  or  driven  into  tins  worship,  but 
that  they  come  spontaneously,  as  water  moves  with  the  utmost 
ease  under  the  power  of  gravitation.  Many  nations  shall  come  of 
their  free  accord.  They  shall  exhort  one  another  to  go  up  to  the 
house  of  the  God  of  Jacob,  to  learn  of  the  true  God  and  of  all 
moral  duty  there.  God's  will,  as  revealed  in  Zion,  they  recognize 
to  be  the  fountain  of  all  law,  and  they  joyfully  place  themselves 
under  his  supreme  dominion.  Then  his  peaceful  reign  over  the 
nations  of  men  begins;  they  need  sword  and  spear  no  longer;  the 
culture  of  the  soil  supersedes  the  arts  of  war,  and  nation  no  more 
lifts  up  sword  against  its  brother  nation.  For  the  law  of  God  is 
the  law  ol'supreine,  impartial  love,  administered  under  the  sway  of 
the  Prince  of  Peace  :  how  then  can  the  result  be  other  than  universal 
tranquillity  ?  Obeyed,  it  must  supplant  war  forever.  Men  can  no 
longer  "  hurt  or  destroy  in  all  God's  holy  mountain,  for  the  earth 
shall  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  as  the  waters  cover  the 
sea."  Glorious  scene !  Blissful  consummation  i  And  this  is  no 
visionary  dream.  It  shall  yet  be.  The  days  of  battles  and  carnage, 
the  days  of  fell  animosity,  satanic  ambition,  demoniac  hate,  must 
cease,  and  give  place  to  days  of  blessed  peace  and  good-will  among 
men.     Let  the  love  of  the  Great  Father  have  the  praise  for  all  this! 

Micah  sees  it  in  the  distant  future.     Briefly  and  in  general,  he 

locates  it  "in  the  last  days."  They  are  future  yet;  but  they  will 
surely  come  and  (may  we  not  hope  and  pray  ?)  will  not  long 
tarry ! 

4.  But  they  shall  sit  every  man  under  his  vine  and 
under  his  fig-tree;  and  none  shall  make  them  afraid: 
for  the  mouth  of  the  Loud  of  hosts  hath  spoken  it. 

Over  against  the  scenes  of  war  lie  the  pursuits  of  peace  and 
the  quiet  enjoyment  of  God's  good  gifts  of  nature  and  providence,  and 
of  the  fruits  of  human  labor.  Each  man  sits  under  his  own  vine 
and  fig-tree ; — none  shall  make  them  afraid.  These  are  the  usual 
oriental  symbols  of  a  state  of  paradise  on  earth. 


198  MICAH.— CHAP.  IV. 

5  For  all  people  will  walk  every  one  in  the  name 
of  his  god,  and  we  will  walk  in  the  name  of  the  Lord 
onr  God  lor  ever  and  ever. 

This  verse  shows  how  the  people  in  that  good  day  are  to  feel 
and  act.  These  are  their  supposed  words.  They  recognize  the 
common  law  of  human  life,  that  men  follow  the  God  they  ac- 
knowledge and  trust,  and  then  they  avow  their  own  full  purpose 
to  walk  in  the  name  of  then  God  for  ever  and  ever.  They  are  alto- 
gether satisfied  with  his  worship  and  service.  In  the  love  of  his 
name  and  in  the  full  strength  of  their  convictions  they  pledge 
themselves  to  his  ways  and  worship  for  all  time. 

6.  In  that  day,  saith  the  Lord,  will  I  assemble  her 
that  halteth,  and  I  will  gather  her  that  is  driven  out, 
and  her  that  I  have  afflicted  ; 

1.  And  I  will  make  her  that  halted  a  remnant,  and 
her  that  was  cast  far  off  a  strong  nation :  and  the  Loed 
shall  reign  over  them  in  Mount  Zion  from  henceforth, 
even  for  ever. 

At  that  time  the  Lord  will  gather  to  himself  the  halting,  i.  e., 
the  lame,  the  smitten,  scathed,  and  long-rejected  remnant  of  his 
people,  and  will  make  them  a  strong  nation,  reigning  over  them 
himself  in  Mount  Zion  forever.  As  vs.  1-4  hy  their  very 
terms  expressly  include  the  Gentiles,  so  these  verses  have 
special  reference  to  the  long-dispersed  Jews.  "When  the  fulness  of 
the  Gentiles  shall  have  come  in,  then  shall  all  Israel  he  saved ;  Im- 
partial blindness  shall  pass  away,  and  the  Lord's  great  plan  of  re- 
deeming, saving  mercy  shall  grasp  the  world,  and  bring  the  nations 
of  every  race  and  clime  beneath  Iramanuel's  sceptre.  (See  Eom. 
11 :  15,  23-27). 

8.  And  thou,  O  tower  of  the  nock,  the-  strong  hold 
of  the  daughter  of  Zion,  unto  thee  shall  it  come,  even 
the  first  dominion ;  the  kingdom  shall  come  to  the 
daughter  of  Jerusalem. 

In  this  passage  God  is  thought  of  as  the  shepherd,  and  his  peo- 
ple as  his  flock.     Hence  the  "  tower  of  the  flock  "  is  Jerusalem. 

Towers  were  built  in  or  near  the  sheepfold  for  defence. The 

original  dominion,  as  under  David,  shall  return  again.  That  pros- 
perous era  of  the  Hebrew  people  in  which  they  subdued  all  their 
enemies  round  about,  and  greatly  improved  the  modes  of  pnblic 
worship,  is  a  common  illustration  of  Messiah's  reign.  The  king- 
dom of  Immanuel  shall  have  this  Mount  Zion  for  its  centre  and 

capital  forever. But  let  us  give  this  scripture  its  gospel  sense. 

Let  us  not  fall  into  the  error  of  the  Pharisees,  as  seen  in  the  New 
Testament,  who  could  find  in  the  Scriptures  nothing  but  a  "king- 


MICAIL— CHAP.  IV.  199 

doni  of  this  world"  for  the  outward  Israel  and  her  earthly- 
king.  We  need  to  distinguish  the  clothing  of  ideas  from  the  ideas 
themselves.  That  the  great  truths  of  gospel  times  and  of  Christ's 
millennial  reign,  should  be  clothed  in  Jewish  imagery  and  costume, 
ought  not  to  surprise  or  stumble  us.  The  human  mind  being  what 
it  is,  this  mode  of  writing  for  Jews  and  among  Jews  is  unavoidable, 
is  natural,  is  indeed  the  only  language  that  could  have  been  at 
that  time  understood. 

9.  Now  why  dost  thou  cry  out  aloud  ?  is  there  no 
king  in  thee  ?  is  thy  counsellor  perished  ?  for  pangs 
have  taken  thee  as  a  woman  in  travail. 

10.  Be  in  pain,  and  labour  to  bring  forth,  O  daugh- 
ter of  Zion,  like  a  woman  in  travail :  for  now  shalt  thou 
go  forth  out  of  the  city,  and  thou  shalt  dwell  in  the 
field,  and  thou  shalt  go  even  to  Babylon ;  there  shalt 
thou  be  delivered;  there  the  Lord  shall  redeem  thee 
from  the  hand  of  thine  enemies. 

With  v.  9  commences  a  remarkably  regular  series  of  prophecies, 
forecasting  great  events  that  were  specially  to  affect  the  welfare  of 
the  Jews  down  to  the  coming  of  Christ,  and  of  the  church  of  God 
thenceforward.  It  is  very  noticeable  that  the  beginning  of  each  is 
indicated  in  our  English  Bible  by  the  word  " now"  which  has  its 
corresponding  Hebrew  word.  It  stands  at  the  head  of  vs.  9,  11,  and 
5:  1.  Consequently,  the  distinct  predictions  are  (1.)  vs.  9,  10; 
(2.)  vs.  11-18 ;  (3.)  chapter  5  :  1,  and  onward  substantially  through 
the  chapter.  No.  1  speaks  of  the  captivity  to  Babylon  and  the  res- 
toration from  it.  No.  2,  of  the  gathering  of  the  great  Syrian  armies, 
together  with  those  of  some  other  adjacent  powers,  against  the 
Jews  in  the  times  of  the  Maccabees,  with  their  heroic  defence  and 
final  victory.  No.  3,  of  the  siege  and  fall  of  Jerusalem,  when  the 
sceptre  finally  departed  from  Judah ;  of  the  Messiah's  birth  at  Beth- 
lehem, and  then  of  his  peaceful,  triumphant  reign,  its  policy  and 

results. With  this  summary  of  the  points  before  us  to  the  end 

of  chapter  5,  we  may  the  better  understand  each  separate  prophecy. 

In  the  first  prediction  of  this  series  (vs.  9,  10)  the  people  are 
seen  in  extreme  agony :  the  prophet  hears  their  sharp  outcry  of 
anguish,  aud  asks  the  cause  of  it.  "And  where  are  thy  reliances 
for  help  ?  Hast  thou  no  king  ?  no  counsellor  ?  "  The  trouble  is,  that 
the  city  is  falling  before  the  fierce  Chaldean,  and  their  honored  tem- 
ple and  loved  homes  are  in  ruins.  How  much  they  rested  on  their 
king  is  indicated  (Lam.  4  :  20),  where  they  say  of  him  :  "  The  breath 
of  our  nostrils,  the  anointed  of  the  Lord,  was  taken  in  their  pits,  of 
whom  we  had  said,  Under  his  shadow  we  shall  live  among  the 
heathen."  Zedekiah  was  both  weak  and  wicked,  yet  he  was  the 
Lord's  anointed  king,  and  the  people,  long  accustomed  to  rever- 
ence royalty,   and   to  expect  good  from  the  Lord  through  his 


200  MICAH.— CHAP.  IV. 

anointed  ones,  bemoaned  Ms  fall  into  the  enemy's  power.    The 

prophet  foresaw  these  events  with  entire  historic  accuracy. A 

woman  in  her  travail  pains  is  the  next  fignre,  used  here  to  repre- 
sent only  the  painful  side  of  the  case — not  the  joy  over  a  happy 
birth.  In  the  clause,  "there  shalt  thou  be  delivered,"  the  original 
forbids  us  to  think  of  any  reference  to  the  bright  side  of  this  figure. 
It  means  merely  that  they  should  be  brought  out  of  this  captivity 
at  some  future  time. The  "  dwelling  in  the  field  "  lies  interme- 
diate between  their  expulsion  from  Jerusalem  and  their  residence 
in  or  near  Babylon,  and  seems  to  allude  to  their  exposure  in  the 

open  country  during  their  long  and  weary  journey  to  Babylon. 

The  twice  repeated  "  there  " — "  there  shalt  thou  be  delivered," 
"  there  shall  the  Lord  redeem  thee,"  &c,  was  equivalent  to  saying, 
Do  not  dread  this  going  to  Babylon,  as  if  it  must  be  the  tomb  of 
all  your  hopes,  for  there  your  God  will  meet  you  for  your  deliver- 
ance. So  in  fact  it  came  to  pass.  Precisely  there  God  raised  up 
Cyrus ;  precisely  at  Babylon  he  gave  him  those  victories  which 
paved  the  way  for  the  restoration  of  his  people.  So  true  is  it  that 
the  people  of  God  never  need  fear  to  pass  under  any  cloud  which 
the  Lord  their  God  may  bring  up  over  them.  "What  seems  to  them 
their  ruin,  God  can  make  their  salvation. 

%  11.  ISTow  also  many  nations  are  gathered  against 
thee,  that  say,  Let  her  be  denied,  and  let  our  eye  look 
upon  Zion. 

12.  But  they  know  not  the  thoughts  of  the  Lord  : 
neither  understand  they  his  counsel :  for  he  shall  gather 
them  as  the  sheaves  into  the  floor. 

13.  Arise  and  thresh,  O  daughter  of  Zion :  for  I  will 
make  thy  horn  iron,  and  I  will  make  thy  hoofs  brass : 
and  thou  shall  beat  in  pieces  many  people  :  and  I  will 
consecrate  their  gain  unto  the  Loud,  and  their  substance 
unto  the  Loed  of  the  whole  earth. 

Here  the  course  of  thought  makes  another  stage  onward,  and 
reaches  the  second  distinct  prophecy  in  this  series.  Many  nations 
gather  together  against  Zion  in  bitter  malignity  and  haughty  scorn, 
and  with  set  purpose  to  defile  her  sanctuary.  Manifestly  a  real 
hatred  of  their  religion  gives  the  impulse  to  this  onslaught  upon  Zion. 
"Let  her  be  defiled,"  say  they,  "and  let  us  have  the  joy  of  look- 
ing on  to  see  her  anguish." No  language  could  more  accurately 

describe  the  spirit  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes  and  of  his  allies,  in  their 
fell,  demoniac  attempts  to  uproot  and  overwhelm  the  holy  city,  its 
temple,  and  all  the  true  worshippers  of  Jehovah.  The  reader  will 
find  a  most  thrilling  history  of  these  events  in  the  first  and  second 
books  of  Maccabees.  It  specially  appears  there  that  the  wrath  of 
these  enemies  of  God  was  aimed  at  the  temple,  its  worship,  and  all 
worshippers  of  the  true  God,  since,  when  at  one  time  the  temple  fell 


MICAH.— CHAP.  V.  201 

into  their  hands,  they  polluted  it  in  every  way  they  could  devise,  even 
offering  swine's  flesh  on  the  sacred  altar.  Hence  "  the  cleansing  of 
the  sanctuary  "  finds  a  prominent  place  in  Daniel's  prophecy  of  these 

events,  and  in  Jewish  history. "  But,"  says  our  prophet,  ''they 

do  not  understand  God's  thoughts  and  counsels."  No,  indeed ;  for 
God  thought,  first,  to  discipline,  prove,  and  purify  his  people  ;  next, 
to  scourge  and  terribly  punish  his  enemies ;  the  latter  only  being 
made  prominent  here  in  the  prophecy.  He  gathered  them  as 
sheaves  into  the  floor,  preparatory  to  bringing  the  threshing 
power  of  his  people  down  upon  them.  Then  the  prophet  calls  on 
the  "  daughter  of  Zion  to  arise  and  thresh."  The  mixing  of  meta- 
phors here  need  not  surprise  us,  for  Ave  have  strength,  even  if  we 
have  not  the  most  finished  concinnity  and  fitness  in  the  points  of  the 
illustration.  That  a  virgin  should  thresh  with  the  feet  of  cattle,  and 
that  with  threshing  should  be'  blended  the  use  of  horns  of  iron,  is 
all  strong  and  full  of  meaning,  however  it  may  lack  the  nicer  beauties. 
It  should  be  said,  however, "that  in  the  phrase  "daughter  of  Zion," 
the  idea  of  a  female  is  lost  in  the  general  conception  of  the  military 
force  of  the  city.  There  was  a  terrible  significance  in  these  figures 
when  the  things  they  denoted  became  actual  history,  when  God  fired 
the  souls  of  the  heroic,  lion-hearted  Maccabees,  and  made  "  one  of 
them  chase  a  thousand,  and  two  put  ten  thousand  to  flight,"  grind- 
ing to  powder  one  after  another  the  huge  armies  sent  upon  them  by 

the  enraged  Syrian  king. Remarkably,  the  Lord  promised  to  turn 

the  spoils  of  these  wars  to  account  toward  the  wealth  of  his  own 
kingdom.  Perhaps  this  is  an  historic  allusion  to  David,  who  turned 
the  spoils  of  his  many  victories  to  account  for  building  and  adorning 
the  first  temple. 

So  it  is  evermore  the  Lord's  purpose  to  make  the  wicked  lay  up 
treasures  for  the  just,  and  coin  money,  to  be  consecrated  under  his 
providence,  though  against  their  intent,  unto  the  Lord  of  the  whole 
earth. 


CHAPTER    V. 

As  already  indicated,  this  chapter  records  the  third  in  the  con- 
nected series  of  consecutive  prophecies.  It  begins  with  the  siege  of 
Jerusalem  and  the  dishonor  done  to  her  Judge ;  advances  to  the 
birth  of  the  Messiah,  and  then  to  the  character  and  results  of  his 
glorious  reign  on  earth. 

1.  Now  gather  thyself  in  troops,  O  daughter  of 
troops :  lie  hath  laid  siege  against  us  :  they  shall  smite 
the  judge  of  Israel  with  a  rod  upon  the  cheek. 

The  descriptive  points  in  this  verse  are  few ;  the  thronging  of 

her  own  troops  within  the  city,  the  siege,  the  extreme  insult  offered 

to  the  Judge  of  Israel.     The  Lord  summons  the  armed  hosts  of 

Jerusalem    together  for  battle,  and  probably  of  Judah  as  well; 

9* 


202  MICAH.— CHAP.  V. 

some  hostile  power  besieges  the  city  and  inflicts  utter  disgrace  on 
the  head  man  of  the  nation,  at  that  time  embodying  and  represent- 
ing the  government,  and  called  "the  Judge  of  Israel,'1  with  allusion 
to  the  Judges  who  fell  between  Joshua  and  Saul,  and  were  inferior 
to  their  kings — showing  that  already  royalty  had  greatly  declined. 
After  this  decline  came  ruin,  for,  to  smite  the  chieftain  of  the  nation 
with  a  rod  upon  the  cheek  must  imply  extreme  indignity  and 
utter  impotence — not  only  that  all  influence  and  authority  had  gone 
from  this  particular  Judge,  but,  since  he  is  a  representative  man, 
that  the  sceptre  had  passed  away  from  Judah  herself. 

In  what  special  event  was  this  prophecy  fulfilled? Some 

(with  Hengstenberg)  have   said,  in  the  fall   of  Jerusalem,   before 

the  arms  of  Titus,  a.  d.  70. The  objections  to  this  view  are : 

(1.)  It  involves  a  serious  anachronism,  since,  as  this  verse  imme- 
diately precedes  the  account  of  the  birth  of  King  Messiah,  so  its 
events  should  precede  that  event.  But  the  fall  of  the  city,  instead 
of  coming  before  his  birth,  was  seventy  years  after. 

(2.)  On  this  theory  the  last  and  main  point  of  the  description 
does  not  appositely  fit  the  historic  facts.  In  the  prophecy,  the 
main  thing  is  the  utter  dishonor  done  to  the  supreme  authority ; 
but  in  the  final  destruction  of  the  city  by  the  Romans,  the  terrible 
thing  was  the  slaughter  of  more  than  a  million  of  her  people,  the 
horrors  of  famine  and  pestilence,  and  appalling  judgments  on  the 
whole  nation.  It  was  not  the  loss  of  their  sceptre,  for  this  had 
practically  gone  long  before. 

(3.)  There  are  clear  indications  throughout  this  chapter  that  the 
prophet  had  his  eye  on  that  striking  prophecy  ((Jen.  49:  10):  "The 
sceptre  shall  not  depart  from  Judah,  nor  a  Lawgiver  from  between 
his  feet,  until  Shiloh  come;  and  unto  him  shall  the  gathering  of  the 
people  be."  Note  the  coming  forth  of  the  Ruler  of  Israel  (v.  2); 
the  gathering  of  the  people  to  him  (v.  3);  even  of  all  nations  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth  (v.  4)  ;  that  lie  shall  be  u  the  Peace" — the  real 
Shiloh — the  Prince  of  Peace  (v.  5),  Arc,  cVrc. 

These  considerations  go  far  to  show  that  the  passage  does  not 
look  specifically  to  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  before  the  Poman  arms 
under  Titus,  a.  d.  70. 

A1  >ther  interpretation  is  already  indicated  by  the  leading  points 
mad(  in  this  description,  viz.,  the  siege  and  fall  of  Jerusalem,  b.  o. 
oK  when  King  Antigonus,  the  last  monarch  of  the  Asmonean 
dynasty  (Jewish),  fell  before  Herod  the  Great,  who  was  aided  by 
eleven  Roman  legions.  Herod  was  an  Idumean.  In  him  the  Jews 
came  under  a  foreign  dynasty,  and  never  again  had  a  king  of  their 
own  race,  save  King  Messiah.  This  siege  was  an  obstinate  contest 
of  one  year's  duration.  History*  notes  especially  that  "King  An- 
tigonus surrendered  himself  in  a  most  cowardly  manner,  and  was  ac- 
cordingly treated  with  the  greatest  indignity,     lie  threw  himself  at 

*  See  Jahu's  "Ilebrew  Commonwealth,"  p.  375,  and  Taylor's  "Manual 
of  History,"  p.  176. 


MIC  AH.— CHAP.  V.  903 

the  feet  of  the  Roman  general,  who  repelled  him  with  contempt, 

and  scornfully  called  him  Antigona,  as  if  he  were  unworthy  the 
name  of  a  man.  The  deposed  king  was  loaded  with  chains,  carried 
to  Antioch,  and  there  beheaded  like  a  common  malefactor." 

Thus  signally  was  the  Judge  of  Israel  "  smitten  with  a  rod  upon 
the  cheek  :  "  thus  did  the  "sceptre  depart  from  Judah."  The  order 
of  time  is  complete,  for  it  was  during  the  reign  of  this  very  Herod 
who  thus  supplanted  Antigonus  that  the  Prince  of  Peace  was  horn 
and  the  Shiloh  of  ancient  prophecy  came  ;  and  thenceforward  the 
true  Israel  never  lacked  a  glorious  King. 

2.  But  thou  Beth-lehem  Ephratah,  though  thou  be 
little  among  the  thousands  of  Judah,  yet  out  of  thee 
shall  he  come  forth  unto  me  that  is  to  be  ruler  in  Israel ; 
whose  goings  forth  have  oeen  from  of  old,  from  everlasting. 

"The  Judge  of  Israel" — all  his  dignity  and  power  gone — has 
passed  away,  and  with  him  that  earthly  kingdom  and  dispensation 
which  so  long  embosomed  or  imprisoned  the  germ  of  the  true  king- 
dom of  God.  Now  a  new  "  Euler  in  Israel "  appears  who  is  truly 
King  and  Lord  of  all. The  first  point  presented  is  his  birth- 
place. On  the  side  of  his  human  nature,  he  comes  forth  from  Beth- 
lehem Ephratah — that  little  city,  too  small  to  have  a  place  among 
the  thousands  of  Judah — for  this  is  precisely  the  sense  of  the 
Hebrew ;  not  that  Bethlehem  was  a  small  one  among  the  thousands, 
yet  being  one  of  them,  but  too  small  to  be  one  of  them.  The  ex- 
pression refers  to  a  classification  of  the  people  of  each  tribe  into 
thousands  which  commenced  during  their  sojourn  in  the  wilderness, 
each  thousand  having  its  head  officer,  who  combined  both  civil  and 
judicial  authority.  The  rise  of  this  system  may  be  seen  Ex.  18  : 
21,  25.  Saul  recognizes  its  existence  long  after  the  settlement  of 
Canaan,  when  he  said  of  David  (1  Sauu  23  :  23),  "If  he  be  in  the 
land,  I  will  search  him  out  throughout  all  the  thousands  of  Judah." 
In  the  transition  from  nomadic  life  in  the  wilderness  to  fixed  resi- 
dence in  Canaan,  this  system  of  division  into  thousands,  with  each 
its  head-man,  "captain,"  or  "judge,"  took  this  modification.  Those 
cities  that  numbered  one  thousand  people  rose  to  the  rank  of  being 
among  the  thousands,  and  had  one  such  officer.  The  smaller 
villages  must  needs  unite  two  or  more  together  to  constitute  a 
family  of  a  thousand.  Bethlehem  had  less  than  a  thousand  people, 
and  was  therefore  among  the  smaller  cities — only  a  village  in  Ju- 
dah. It  lay  six  miles  southwest  of  Jerusalem,  in  a  fertile  region,  as 
its  name,  "house  of  bread,"  denotes.  Ephratah  also  means  "fruit- 
ful." It  was  the  birthplace  of  David,  and  partly  for  this  reason, 
we  may  suppose,  was  the  birthplace  of  his  greater  Son.  Royalty 
in  the  house  of  David  had  fallen  low  at  the  period  contemplated  in 
this  prophecy.  Indeed,  there  are  indications  here  that  it  was  seen 
by  Micah  to  be  practically  extinct,  so  that  David  is  thought  of  as 
having  returned  back  from  the  place  of  his  throne  on  Mount  Zion, 


204  MICAH.— CHAP.  V. 

to  the  place  of  his  humble  birth  and  shepherd  life,  Bethlehem. 
Its  being  a  small  city  was  really  no  disqualification  for  a  birthplace 
of  King  Messiah,  since  David  himself  was  born  here  and  not  in  any 
of  the  greater  cities  of  the  land,  and  also  because  it  was  no  part  of 
God's  plan,  in  determining  the  birthplace  of  his  incarnate  Son,  to 

make  him  famous  by  its  greatness  or  renown. The  appended 

name  "Ephratah"  carries  us  back  to  Gen.  35  :  16-19,  where  this 

place  was  distinguished  by  yet  another  birth. Though  thou  art 

so  small,  O  Bethlehem,  "yet  out  of  thee  shall  he  come  forth  who 
is  to  he  for  me  ruler  in  Israel."  For  me,  rather  than  "unto  me  " 
— the  idea  being,  not  that  the  Messiah  comes  from  Bethlehem  unto 
God,  but  that  he  is  to  be  ruler  for  God,  acting  under  God  and  in 
his  behalf  in  the  great  mediatorial  scheme.      The  word  "ruler" 

means  chief  ruler,  king. On  the  last  clause  of  the  verse,  opinions 

differ.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  noun  rendered  "goings 
forth"  is  correlated  with  the  verb  just  before  it,  rendered  "shall 
come  forth"  i.  e.,  from  Bethlehem — the  noun  being  from  the  same 
root.  In  one  point  of  view,  he  shall  go  forth  out  of  Bethlehem ; 
but  in  another,  his  goings  forth  have  been  from  of  old,  from  ever- 
lasting. The  last  point  in  this  correlation,  the  precise  sense  in 
which  his  goings  forth  have  been  from  of  old,  is  that  on  which 
critics  have  differed.  Some  say  that,  as  in  his  human  nature 
he  came  out  of  Bethlehem,  so  in. his  divine  nature  he  came  forth 
from  eternity.  Others,  urging  that  eternity  is  no  place,  and  there- 
fore cannot  be  antithetic  to  Bethlehem  which  is  a  place,  find  a  ref- 
erence to  his  repeated  manifestations  through  his  divine  nature  and 
before  his  proper  incarnation,  e.  g.,  to  the  patriarchs,  to  Moses, 
Joshua,  Samuel,  and  others. 1  adopt  the  latter  view,  as  constitut- 
ing the  most  natural  antithesis,  as  avoiding  the  rather  harsh  con- 
ception of  coming  out  of  eternity,  as  involving  a  reference  to  a  se- 
ries of  facts  of  the  highest  moment  in  identifying  this  glorious 
Baler  of  Israel,  and  finally  as  well  accounting  for  the  use  of  the 
plural,  "his  goings  forth,"  which  implies  that  there  had  been  many. 
But  the  construction  first  stated  above,  provides  for  only  one  com- 
ing forth,  viz.,  from  eternity. The  prophet,  then,  means  to  say 

that  this  was  not  his  first  manifestation  among  men.  During  all 
the  earlier  ages,  he  had  often  come  forth  and  made  his  presence 
manifest.  In  the  wilderness  he  was  the  angel  of  Jehovah's  pres- 
ence (Ex.  23  :  20-23,  and  33  :  14)  ;  to  Joshua  (5  :  13-15)  he  appeared 
as  captain  of  the  Lord's  host,  and  to  Manoah  (Judg.  13  :  17,  18)  as 
one  whose  name  is  "  Wonderful."      So  the  Hebrew,  which  occurs 

again  in  Isa.  9:6.    And  these  are  only  a  few  out  of  many. It 

was  manifestly  pertinent  that  Micah,  in  predicting  his  human  birth 
in  Bethlehem,  should  indicate  the  fact  of  his  preexistence  and  of 
his  frequent  previous  manifestations  to  his  people  in  the  earlier  ages. 
— —It  only  remains  to  note  that  the  Jews  of  the  Saviour's  time  so 
far  understood  this  prophecy  as  to  apply  it  to  the  Messiah,  and  to 
learn  from  it  that  he  should  be  born  in  Bethlehem.  Matthew  in- 
forms us  (2  :  4-6)  that  Ilcrod  gathered  the  chief  priests  and  scribes 


MICAIL— CHAr.  v.  205 

together  and  demanded  of  them  where  Christ  should  he  horn. 
They  at  once  answered,  "In  Bethlehem  of  Judea,"  and  appealed 
to  this  prophecy  for  the  proof. 

3.  Therefore  will  lie  give  tliem  up  until  the  time 
that  she  which  travaileth  hath  brought  forth :  then  the 
remnant  of  his  brethren  shall  return  unto  the  children 
of  Israel. 

He  (Jehovah)  gives  up  them  (his  covenant  people),  in  the  sense  of 
leaving  them  to  he  scourged  for  their  sins  and  purified  under  this  disci- 
pline, until  this  great  Ruler,  the  Messiah,  should  he  horn.  The  verb 
rendered  "  give  up,"  has  this  sense  in  1  Kings  14 :  1G,  and  2  Chiron. 
30  :  7,  "  Be  not  as  your  fathers  who  transgressed  against  the  God 

of  your  fathers ;  therefore  he  gave  them  up  to  desolation." "  She 

that  travaileth  "  must  refer  to  the  thought  in  the  previous  verse, 
the  human  birth  of  the  Messiah  in  Bethlehem.  Micah  may  have 
had  before  his  mind  what  Isaiah  wrote  (7  :  14),  "  Behold,  a  virgin 
shall  conceive  and  bear  a  son,  and  shall  call  his  name  Immanuel." 

The  giving  up  to  temporary  calamities  is  referred  to  in  verso  1. 

The  divine  policy  seems  to  have  been  to  let  his  apostate  Israel  sink 
very  low  as  to  its  outward  estate,  and  then  by  this  means  bring  out 

the  more  prominently  before  all  the  world  the  Great  Deliverer. 

"  The  remnant  of  his  brethren  "  should  naturally  be  those  of  the 
Jewish  communion  who  were  scattered  abroad.  They  were  to  re- 
turn to  the  main  body. 

4.  And  he  shall  stand  and  feed  in  the  strength  of  the 
Loed,  in  the  majesty  of  the  name  of  the  Lord  his  God  ; 
and  they  shall  abide :  for  now  shall  he  be  great  unto  the 
ends  of  the  earth. 

The  Hebrew  verb  "  feed  "  belongs  to  shepherd  life,  and  includes 
both  feeding  and  ruling,  supplying  the  want  of  food  and  the  want 
of  protection  and  government  as  well.  The  attitude  of  a  shepherd 
is  a  standing  one,  hence  "  he  shall  stand  and  feed."  He  shall  fulfil 
this  office,  not  in  any  merely  human  might  and  majesty,  but  in  the 
strength  and  majesty  of  the  very  God. "  And  they,"  his  peo- 
ple, his  flock,  "  shall  abide,"  in  the  sense  of  permanence  and  secu- 
rity, not  driven  about  and  away  into  captivity,  as  they  then  would 
have  been  so  recently.  May  there  not  be  a  quiet  antithesis  between 
the  shepherd  standing  over  them,  and  themselves  sitting  securely 
and  at  ease  under  his  guardian  eye  and  overshadowing  presence  ? 

One  reason  why  they  sit  so  securely  is  that  their  king  is  M  great 

unto  the  very  ends  of  the  earth."  The  range  of  his  power  sweeps 
far  beyond  Judea.  It  fills  the  wide  world,  and  leaves  no  place  for 
nations  and  armies  hostile  to  the  people  of  the  Messiah. 

5.  And  this  man  shall  be  the  peace,  when  the  Assyr- 
ian shaE.  come  into  our  land :  and  when  he  shall  tread 


206  MICAH.— CHAP.  Y. 

in  our  palaces,  then  shall  we  raise  against  him  seven 
shepherds,  and  eight  principal  men. 

"  This  man,"  the  Messiah,  "  shall  he  peaee,"  the  fountain  and 
author  of  peace,  and  of  peace  in  a  sense  involving  not  only  the 
absence  of  war  hut  the  presence  of  all  the  best  earthly  good  and 
even  heavenly  good  besides.  Yet  the  special  sense  is  that  ot 
peace  as  opposed  to  war.  The  course  of  thought  throughout  this 
passage  contemplates  the  people  as  in  a  militant  state,  often  assailed 
by  outward,  active  enemies.     Under  such  circumstances,  "  peace  " 

is  a  word  fraught  with  intense  and  precious  significance. The 

brevity  of  this  expression,  "  this  man  shall  be  peace,"  favors  the 
opinion  that  Micah  had  before  his  mind,  and  assumed  that  his  read- 
ers would  have  before  theirs,  those  other  prophecies  winch  he  had 
almost  quotod :  "  The  sceptre  shall  not  depart  from  Judah,  nor  a 
lawgiver  from  between  Lis  feet,  until  Shiloh  (Prince  of  Peace)  shall 
come ;  him  shall  the  people  obey  "  (Gen.  49 :  10) ;  and  that  of  Isaiah 
(9:6):  "  For  unto  us  a  child  is  born ;  unto  us  a  son  is  given  ;  and 
the  government  shall  be  upon  his  shoulders;  and  his  name  shall  be 
called  Wonderful,  Counsellor,  The  Mighty  God,  The  Everlasting 
Father,  The  Prince  of  Peace."  As  if  he  would  say,  You  will  under- 
stand my  brief  allusion  to  this  man  as  "  peace  ;  "  you  will  remem- 
ber those  prophecies  so  very  similar  to  what  I  have  been  saying. 
The  Assyrian  foe  is  named  because  he  was  then  far  more  for- 
midable than  any  other.  This  does  not  imply  that  precisely  this 
enemy  would  be  on  hand  in  the  days  of  the  Messiah's  advent  or 
thenceforward,  lie  expects  that  help  from  God  against  foreign  en- 
emies will  come  in  the  way  of  supplying  competent  leaders.  That 
these  military  leaders  are  called  "shepherds,"  may  have  a  tacit 
reference  to  Moses,  the  shepherd  leader,  and  to  David,  the  shep- 
herd king.  It  may  also  imply  that  if  the  people  arc  taught  and  fed 
in  the  ways  of  God,  they  will  be  invincible  against  outward  ene- 
mies.  "Principal  men"  is  in  Hebrew,  anointed  men,  set  apart, 

anointed  and  qualified  of  God.  "  Seven  "  and  "  eight"  are  definite 
numbers  used  as  indefinite,  in  the  sense  of  an  adequate  number  for 
leaders  against  the  foe.     See  notes  on  Amos  1 :  3. 

G.  And  they  shall  waste  the  land  of  Assyria  with  the 
sword,  and  the  land  of  -Nimrod  in  the  entrances  thereof: 
thus  shall  he  deliver  us  from  the  Assyrian,  when  he 
cometh  into  our  land,  and  when  he  treadeth  within  our 
borders. 

The  verb  rendered  "  waste  "  is  the  same  rendered  "  feed  "  in  v. 
4,  and  is  probably  a  play  on  the  possible  senses  of  that  word. 
While  King  Messiah  shall  feed  his  own  people  like  a  shepherd,  they, 
made  brave  in  war  by  his  might  within  them,  shall  feed  down  the 
land  of  Assyria  by  the  sword — of  course  in  the  sense  of  consura* 
ing  and  laying  desolate. -The   Assyrian  stands  here  to  represent 


MICAH.— CHAP.  V.  207 

tlie  enemies  of  God's  people,  and  is  selected  because  when  Micah 
wrote,  he  was  the  enemy  chiefly  to  he  feared.  With  this  view  [ 
see  no  necessity  of  looking  after  a  literal  fulfilment  on  that  Assyria. 
Any  powerful  foe  is  Assyria. 

7.  And  the  remnant  of  Jacob  shall  be  in  the  midst 
of  many  people  as  a  dew  from  the  Loud,  as  the  showers 
upon  the  grass,  that  tarrieth  not  for  man,  nor  waiteth 
for  the  sons  of  men. 

8.  And  the  remnant  of  Jacob  shall  be  among  the 
Gentiles  in  the  midst  of  many  people  as  a  lion  among 
the  beasts  of  the  forest,  as  a  young  lion  among  the  flocks 
of  sheep:  who,  if  he  go. through,  both,  treadeth  down, 
and  teareth  in  pieces,  and  none  can  deliver. 

9.  Thine  hand  shall  be  lifted  up  upon  thine  adver- 
saries, and  all  thine  enemies  shall  be  cut  off. 

"  The  remnant  of  Jacob  "  comprises  those  who  survive  the  wars 
and  desolations  sent  of  God  to  scourge  and  purify  his  people.  It  is 
of  course  implied  that  these  have  been  purified  by  the  afflictions 
which  they  have  survived,  and  are  now  prepared  for  effective  use- 
fulness in  the  service  of  their  King  Messiah.  First,  they  shall  ube 
among  Gentile  nations  like  the  dew  and  like  showers  from  the 
Lord  "—figures  suggestive  of  munificent  blessings— blessings  that 
come  before  men  ask  lor  them,  "  on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust ;  " 
anticipating  the  wants  of  vegetation. The  next  figure  also  lo- 
cates them  among  Gentile  nations,  where  they  are  as  a  lion  among 
beasts,  or  a  young  lion  among  the  flock— everywhere  a  power  to 
be  respected  and  "even  feared.  The  idea  of  abstractiveness  is  (Ave 
may  hope)  less  prominent  than  that  of  efficiency,  or  at  least  we  are 
to  think  of  destructiveness  only  as  relating  to  the  real  and  incorri- 
gible enemies  of  God,  and  even  then  of  their  agency  as  incidental 
and  passive  rather  than  direct  and  active.  "  Vengeance  belongeth 
unto  God,"  and  when  his  providence  employs  his  people  in  the 
destruction  of  guilty  nations,  it  is  commonly  not  by  any  direct 
agency,  but  rather  by  indirect. 

10.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  saith  the 
Lord,  that  I  will  cut  off  thy  horses  out  of  the  midst  of 
thee,  and  I  will  destroy  thy  chariots  : 

11.  And  I  will  cut  off  the  cities  of  thy  land,  and 
throw  down  all  thy  strong  holds : 

These  statements  'show  that  God's  people  are  not  thought  of 
here  as  fighting  with  carnal  weapons,  for  if  they  were,  then  horses 
and  chariots  would  come  into  use.  "  Cities  "  must  be  here  thought 
of  in  the  military  sense,  parallel  to  "  strongholds."  The  idea  is 
ti  r  the  lord  will  be  himself  their  Refuge  and  Strength,  and  will 


208  MICAH.— CHAP.  V. 

take  away  their  confidence  in  human  sources  of  help.  The  Psalm- 
ist gives  the  spirit  of  this  passage,  saying — "  Some  trust  in  chariots 
and  some  in  horses ;  hut  we,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  our  God  " 
(Ps.  20:7). 

12.  And  I  will  cut  off  witchcrafts  out  of  thine  hand ; 
and  thou  shalt  have  no  more  sooth-sayers : 

13.  Thy  graven  images  also  will  I  cut  off,  and  thy 
standing  images  out  of  the  midst  of  thee ;  and  thou 
shalt  no  more  worship  the  work  of  thy  hands. 

14.  And  I  will  pluck  up  thy  groves  out  of  the  midst 
of  thee :  so  will  I  destroy  thy  cities. 

Witchcraft  and  soothsaying  are  twin  sisters  to  idol  gods ;  all 
unite  in  a  common  sympathy  with  Satan  and  his  kingdom  against 
God  and  his  truth  and  worship.  What  he  here  promises  is  there- 
fore a  hlessing  to  his  church  and  kingdom.  Indeed,  we  might  say, 
He  can  give  no  greater  hlessing  to  his  people  than  to  take  away 
their  sins,  by  mild  measures  and  influences,  if  he  can ;  by  stern  and 
painful  agencies,  if  he  must.  The  destruction  of  "  cities  "  here  also, 
as  in  v.  11,  must  contemplate  them,  not  as  mere  residences  of  a 
dense  population,  hut  rather  as  the  corrupt  centres  and  fountains 
of  idolatry  and  vile  superstition. 

15.  And  I  will  execute  vengeance  in  anger  and  fury 
upon  the  heathen,  such  as  they  have  not  heard. 

The  church  being  purified,  it  remains  to  execute  vengeance  on 
the  heathen  who  are  still  incorrigible.  Then  and  so  will  the  world 
be  redeemed  from  its  sins,  and  the  reign  of  Messiah  be  omnipotent 
in  all  the  earth.  What  we  should  expect  from  the  nature  of  the 
case  is  rendered  certain  by  the  sure  word  of  prophecy,  viz.,  that 
this  subjugation  of  the  world  to  King  Messiah  will  be  effected  by  a 
twofold  agency  :  (1.)  The  power  of  truth  and  of  the  Spirit  of  God  to 
whatever  extent  they  may  become  effectual.  (2.)  Desolating  and 
exterminating  judgments  on  all  who  are  incorrigible  under  the  best 
appliances  for  their  salvation  that  God  can  wisely  employ. 

Thus  closes  this  most  instructive  Messianic  chapter.  Some  have 
said  that  the  portion  of  this  chapter  which  promises  prosperity 
closes  with  v.  8,  the  remaining  part  denoting  adversity.  Such  in- 
terpreters seem  to  forget  that  God  can  give  his  people  no  richer 
blessing  than  to  cut  oft'  and  remove  their  sins.  Aye,  let  his  name 
be  praised  for  this,  even  though  it  be  by  stern  excision,  the  cutting 
off  of  right  hands,  or  the  plucking  out  of  right  eyes- ! 


MICAH.— CHAP.  VI.  209 


CHAPTER   VI. 

A  geand  public  hearing  of  the  case  made  by  Jehovah  against 
his  covenant  people  is  called  for  (v.  1);  the  mountains  are  sum- 
moned to  be  present  (vs.  1  and  2)  ;  the  Lord  presents  his  complaint 
and  appeals  to  his  past  mercies  (vs.  3-5) ;  the  people  ask  what  they 
shall  do  to  please  God  (vs.  G,  7) ;  the  prophet  replies  (v.  8),  and 
continues  still  to  expose  their  sins,  and  to  speak  of  the  judgments 
inflicted  therefor. 

1.  Hear  ye  now  what  the  Lord  saith ;  Arise,  contend 
thon  before  the  mountains,  and  let  the  hills  hear  thy 
voice. 

2.  Hear  ye,  O  mountains,  the  Lord's  controversy, 
and  ye  strong  foundations  of  the  earth:  for  the  Lord 
hath  a  controversy  with  his  people,  and  he  will  plead 
with  Israel. 

The  first  verse  is  the  Lord's  word  to  his  prophet.  "  Contend  " 
is  used  here  in  the  sense  of  a  legal  contending — a  pleading  before  a 
court.  This  complaint  made  by  Jehovah  against  his  people,  the 
prophet  is  to  bring  before  the  "  mountains  and  the  strong  founda- 
tions of  the  earth,"  as  if  inanimate  nature  could  not  fail  of  having 
moral  sense  enough  to  appreciate  the  merits  of  so  very  plain  a  case. 
The  scene  is  sublimely  grand — this  holding  court  before  the  moun- 
tains and  the  strong  pillars  of  the  earth,  giving  them  to  understand 
that  the  Lord  has  a  controversy  with  his  people,  and  summoning 
them  to  hear  and  pass  upon  the  case. 

3.  O  my  people,  what  have  I  done  unto  thee?  and 
wherein  have  I  wearied  thee  ?  testify  against  me. 

The  case  now  opens.  The  Lord  says,  "  O  my  people,  what 
have*  I  done  that  could  in  any  possible  degree  justify  thee  in  such 
apostasy  against  thy  God  ?  "  If  they  have  ought  to  reply,  the  court 
is  open ;  "  testify,"  saith  the  Lord,  "  against  me." 

4.  For  I  brought  thee  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 
and  redeemed  thee  out  of  the  house  of  servants ;  and  I 
sent  before  thee  Moses,  Aaron,  and  Miriam. 

5.  O  my  people,  remember  now  what  Balak  king  of 
Moab  consulted,  and  what  Balaam  the  son  of  Beor  an- 
swered him  from  Shittim  unto  Gilgal;  that  ye  may 
know  the  righteousness  of  the  Lord. 

Miriam  became  prominent  in  the  song  of  triumph  on  the  hither 

side  of  the  Eed  Sea,  Ex.  15. The  striking  narrative  respecting 

Balak  and  Balaam  may  be  seen,  Num.  chap.  22-24.    Balak  thought 


210  MICAH.— CHAP.  VI. 

to  prevail  against  this  new  and  formidable  people  by  means  of 
divination  and  the  cursing  power  of  one  widely  known  and  honored 
as  a  master  in  the  mysteries  of  magic ;  bnt  the  Lord  headed  Ba- 
laam, and  would  not  let  him  go  to  sell  his  conscience  and  his  soul 
for  the  wages  of  unrighteousness,  and  make  capital  for  Balak  against 
the  Lord's  people.  The  Lord's  control  over  Balaam  evinced  his 
power  on  the  hearts  of  even  wicked  men,  for  Balaam  still  continued 
to  be  a  bad  man,  and  met  his  death  at  last  among  God's  enemies 

(Num.  31 :  8). " Shittim "  was  a  valley  in  Moab.     Gilgal  was  the 

place,  close  on  the  west  side  of  the  Jordan,  where  the  Hebrew  peo- 
ple pitched  their  first  camp  in  Canaan,  and  raised  their  monument 
of  stones. "From  Shittim  unto  Gilgal"  cannot  be  directly  con- 
nected with  Balaam's  answer  to  Balak,  as  if  this  answer  was  kept 
up  throughout  this  entire  journey.  We  must  supply  the  ellipsis : 
"  Remember  all  that  occurred  from  Shittim  till  ye  were  across  the 

Jordan  in  Gilgal." "  That  ye  may  know  the  righteousness  of  the 

Lord"  cannot  here  refer  to  justice,  but  must  rather  mean  the  favors 
and  mercies  of  the  Lord.  The  word  "  righteousness  "  has  this  sense 
in  quite  a  number  of  passages.  One  clear  case  occurs  1  Sam.  12:  7, 
where  Samuel  says,  uLet  me  reason  with  you  of  all  the  righteous 
acts  of  the  Lord  (righteousnesses),  which  he  did  to  you  and  to  your 
fathers;  "  whereupon  he  proceeds  to  recite  a  long  catalogue  of  di- 
vine benefits,  mercies — not  by  any  means  acts  of  mere  justice. 

G.  "Wherewith  shall  I  come  before  the  Lord,  and 
bow  myself  before  the  high  God  ?  shall  I  come  before 
him  with  burnt-offerings,  with  calves  of  a  year  old? 

7.  Will  the  Lord  be  pleased  with  thousands  of  rams, 
or  with  ten  thousands  of  rivers  of  oil  ?  shall  I  give  my 
first-born  for  my  transgression,  the  fruit  of  my  body 
for  the  sin  of  my  soul  ? 

These  are  questions  put  by  the  people  to  the  prophet.  They 
respond  to  his  rebukes  and  expostulations  with  the  inquiry,  What 
will  meet  the  demands  of  the  Lord  our  God?  What  does  he  re- 
quire us  to  do? Two  things  are  worthy  of  note  in  the  general 

cast  of  these  inquiries:  (1.)  That  they  are  deeply  shaded  with  the 
current  thought  of  the  heathen  nations  round  about  them,  rather 
than  by  the  tone  of  the  Institutes  of  Moses ;  and  (2.)  That  they 
seem  to  imply  that  the  Deity  demands  offerings  of  the  most  costly 
sort,  and  penance  the  most  severe — overlooking  all  the  weightier 
matters  of  the  law — justice  and  love. 

8.  He  hatli  shewed  thee,  O  man,  what  is  good ;  and 
what  doth  the  Lord  require  of  thee,  but  to  do  justly, 
and  to  love  mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God  % 

This  is  the  prophet's  brief  but  exceedingly  comprehensive  reply. 
uI)o  justice"  first  of  all,  everywhere,  and  always;  then,  yet  fur- 
ther, toward  your  fellow-men  "  show  mercy  ;  "  do  acts  of  kindness 


MICAH.— CHAP.  VI.  2H 

and  favor  where  no  merit  creates  a  claim  of  justice  ;  and  finally,  as 
toward  God,  walk  with  him  humbly,  in  constant  communion  and 
fellowship,  liecognize  his  surrounding,  all-pervading  presence,  and 
adjust  thy  spirit  and  thy  life-  to  a  due  sense  of  that  presence.  In 
the  last  clause  the  Hebrew  is  specially  expressive :  "  Bow  low  to 
walk  with  God,"  as  if  only  so  could  sinning  mortals  hope  to  come 

near  to  the  Holy  One. Thus,  in  fewest,  briefest  words,  does  the 

prophet  reply,  giving  us  precisely  the  great  duties  which  man  owes 
both  to  his  fellow-man  and  to  his  God. 

9.  The  Loed's  voice  crieth  unto  the  city,  and  the  man 
of  wisdom  shall  see  thy  name  :  hear  ye  the  rod,  and 
who  hath  appointed  it. 

Again  the  prophet  returns  to  expose  and  reprove  the  sins  of  the 
people,  and  to  announce  the  judgments  that  the  Lord  must  needs 

send. The  "  city  "  to  which  the  Lord's  voice  crieth  is  Jerusalem, 

prominent  for  her  responsibilities,  prominent  in  her  sins.     It  was 

therefore  every  way  fitting  that  the  Lord  should  cry  unto  her. 

In  the  next  clause  the  Hebrew  margin  presents  a  slightly  different 
reading,  which  would  give  this  sense:  u Those  who  fear  thy  name 
will  have  wisdom."  But  this  reading  has  no  claims  for  precedence 
before  the  one  in  our  Hebrew  text  and  in  our  English  text — "  The 
wise  will  regard  thy  name" — whatever  fools  may  do  or  may  not. 
The  prophet  assumes  that  the  unwise  will  not  regard  the  name  of 

Jehovah The  exhortation  is,  "Hear  ye  the  rod" — the  lessons 

taught  by  the  Lord's  rod  of  discipline — and  so  learn  to  know  him 
who  has  appointed  it,  and  who  directs  its  mission  in  a  sinning 
world. 

10.  Are  there  yet  the  treasures  of  wickedness  in  the 
house  of  the  wicked,  and  the  scant  measure  that  is 
abominable  % 

As  if  surprised  as  well  as  grieved,  the  Lord  asks,  Are  there  yet 
in  wicked  men's  houses  the  treasures  they  have  gotten  by  wicked- 
ness and  the  scant  measure,  or  "  cphah?  "     This  form  of  question 

strongly  implies  that  there  are. The  Hebrew  people  seem  to 

have  been  strangely  addicted  to  falsifying  by  unjust  weights  and 
measures,  although  then*  statute  law  most  expressly  forbade  it.  See 
Lev.  19:35,36,  and  Deut.  25:13-16.  Other  passages  note  the 
prevalence  of  this  sin,  and  strongly  condemn  it:  Pro  v.  11 : 1  and 
20:10;  Hos.  12  :  7 ;  and  Amos  8 :  5. 

11.  Shall  I  count  them  pure  with  the  wicked  balances, 
and  with  the  bag  of  deceitful  weights  \ 

The  use  of  the  first  person  creates  the  only  difficulty  of  exposi- 
tion. The  verb  properly  means  "  Shall  I  be  pure?" — not,  Shall  I 
count  others  as  pure  ?  llead  thus,  we  must  suppose  the  prophet  to 
put  the  question  as  of  himself,  that  the  people  may  in  like  manner 


212  MICAH.— CHAP.  VII. 

each  ask  it  of  himself,  "Shall  I  be  pure  with"  (*.  e.,  while  using) 
"  wicked  balances  and  a  bag  of  deceitful  weights  ? "  literally,  stones 
to  deceive  with. 

12.  For  the  rich  men  thereof  are  full  of  violence,  and 
the  inhabitants  thereof  have  spoken  lies,  and  their 
tongue  is  deceitful  in  their  mouth. 

"  For  the  rich  men  thereof,"  i.  e.,  of  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  re- 
ferred to  v.  9. 

13.  Therefore  also  mil  I  make  thee  sick  in  smiting 
thee,  in  making  thee  desolate  because  of  thy  sins. 

14.  Thou  shalt  eat,  but  not  be  satisfied ;  and  thy 
casting  down  shall  he  in  the  midst  of  thee ;  and  thou 
shalt  take  hold,  but  shalt  not  deliver ;  and  that  which 
thou  deliverest  will  I  give  up  to  the  sword. 

15.  Thou  shalt  sow,  but  thou  shalt  not  reap ;  thou 
shalt  tread  the  olives,  but  thou  shalt  not  anoint  thee 
with  oil ;  and  sweet  wine,  but  shalt  not  drink  wine. 

Here  are  the  judgments  to  be  sent  on  the  people  for  these  sins. 
In  the  clause  "I  will  make  thy  wound  incurable,"  the  words  imply 

that  this  wound  comes  of  the  Lord's  smiting. V.  14  I  translate 

closely,  thus  :  "  Thou  shalt  eat  and  not  be  satisfied,  for  thy  hunger 
shall  still  be  within  thee ;  thou  shalt  remove  away  (*.  e.,  thy  goods 
for  safety),  but  thou  shalt  not  save  them ;  and  whatever  thou  shalt 
save  I  will  give  up  to  the  sword." 

16.  For  the  statutes  of  Omri  are  kept,  and  all  the 
works  of  the  house  of  Ahab,  and  ye  walk  in  their  coun- 
sels ;  that  I  should  make  thee  a  desolation,  and  the  in- 
habitants thereof  an  hissing :  therefore  ye  shall  bear  the 
reproach  of  my  people. 

Omri,  the  father,  and  Ahab,  the  son,  were  leaders  in  the  idolatry 
of  Israel.     Their  example  and  influence  were  intensely  pernicious 

over  Judah. "  The  reproach  of  my  people  "  is  not  reproach  cast 

oy  my  people,  but  such  reproach  as  is  cine  to  my  people,  consider- 
ing that  they  were  mine  by  covenant,  under  the  highest  obligations, 
but  violated  all. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  course  of  thought  in  this  chapter  embraces  the  prophet's 
distress  (v.  1);  its  causes  in  the  extreme  wickedness  of  the  people 
(vs.  2-4) ;  so  great  that  no  confidence  can  be  reposed  in  man,  not 
even  in  best  friends  (vs.  5,  6) ;  but  should  be  in  God  (v.  7).     Trusting 


M1CAH.— CHAP.  VII.  213 

in  her  God,  Zion  exults  over  her  enemies  (vs.  8,  9),  who  aie  covered 
with  shame  (v.  10) ;  enlargement  for  Zion  (vs.  11,  12),  albeit  judg- 
ments have  come  and  must  come  for  her  sins ;  the  prophet's  prayer 
(v.  14) ;  and  the  Lord's  answer  (vs.  15-17)  ;  the  prophet  testifies  in 
sublime  strains  to  God's  pardoning  mercy,  and  the  people  respond 
(vs.  18-20). 

1.  "Woe  is  Hie !  for  I  am  as  when  they  have  gathered 
the  summer  fruits,  as  the  grape-gleanings  of  the  vintage : 
there  is  no  cluster  to  eat :  my  soul  desired  the  first  ripe 
fruit. 

The  prophet  gives  expression  to  his  sadness,  grief,  and  disap- 
pointment, by  comparing  his  case  to  that  of  a  man  longing  for  the 
first  ripe  fruits,  but  who  finds  the  summer  fruits  all  gathered,  the 
grapes  all  gleaned,  and  not  a  cluster  left  for  his  hunger.  The  state 
of  things  among  the  people  whicli  causes  him  such  grief  and  disap- 
pointment, he  proceeds  to  describe. 

2.  The  good  man  is  perished  out  of  the  earth  :  and 
there  is  none  upright  among  men  :  they  all  lie  in  wait 
for  blood  ;  they  hunt  every  man  his  brother  with  a  net. 

3.  That  they  may  do  evil  with  both  hands  earnestly, 
the  prince  asketh,  and  the  judge  asketh  for  a  reward ; 
and  the  great  man,  he  uttereth  his  mischievous  desire : 
so  they  wrap  it  up. 

4.  The  best  of  them  is  as  a  brier :  the  most  upright 
is  sharper  than  a  thorn-hedge :  the  day  of  thy  watchmen 
and  thy  visitation  cometh;  now  shall  be  their  per- 
plexity: 

The  received  translation  gives  the  sense,  in  the  main,  well.  The 
verb  rendered  "  wrap  it  up  "  implies  not  merely  covering  over,  but 

tying  up — interlacing,  and  making  all  secure  by  artful  planning. 

The  watchmen  "  (v.  4)  are  prophets,  and  "  the  day  of  thy  watch- 
men "  is  the  day  thy  prophets  have  foretold  as  one  of  destruction, 
and  of  God's  visitation  in  judgment.  Now  shall  the  wicked  who 
fall  under  these  judgments  be  perplexed  and  confounded  in  their 
plans  of  wickedness,  so  that  they  shall  not  know  what  they 
can  do. 

5.  Trust  ye  not  in  a  friend,  put  ye  not  confidence  in 
a  guide  :  keep  the  doors  of  thy  mouth  from  her  that  lieth 
in  thy  bosom. 

6.  For  the  son  dishonoreth  the  father,  the  daughter 
riseth  up  against  her  mother,  the  daughter-in-law  against 
her  mother-in-law ;  a  man's  enemies  are  the  men  of  his 
own  house. 


214  MICAH.— CHAP.   VII. 

This  entire  description,  beginning  with  v.  2,  reveals  a  state  of 
appalling  corruption  of  morals,  and  gives  the  soundings  of  the  great 
depths  of  human  depravity  as  seen  where  the  light  of  God's  word 
is  withdrawn,  and  idol  worship  with  its  surroundings  comes  into  its 
place.  As  Christianity  sanctifies  and  makes  benign  all  the  sweet 
relationships  of  home  and  family,  so  does  human  depravity,  finding 
free  scope,  and  ever-quickening  impulse  under  the  reign  of  idolatry, 
desecrate  and  render  fiendish  those  same  precious  relationships.  It 
is  terrible  that  homes  of  love  should  become  "habitations  of 
cruelty;  "  but  human  depravity,  unrestrained,  has  precisely  this  ten- 
dency, and  sometimes  reaches  this  result. 

7.  Therefore  I  will  look  unto  the  Lord  ;  I  will  wait 
for  the  God  of  my  salvation  ;  my  God  will  hear  me. 

No  conclusion  from  such  premises  as  these  could  be  more  fitting 
than  this.  When  all  our  dearest  earthly  friends  fail,  let  it  be  our 
joy  that  God  is  true  and  faithful — a  doubly  precious  friend. 

8.  Rejoice  not  against  me,  O  mine  enemy :  when  I 
fall,  I  shall  arise  ;  when  I  sit  in  darkness,  the  Lord  shall 
be  a  light  imto  me. 

The  special  thing  to  be  noticed  in  the  Hebrew  of  this  verse  is 
that  the  verb  rendered  "rejoice,"  and  the  noun,  "mine  enemy," 
are  both  feminine,  showing  that  the  prophet  addresses  some  city  or 
political  power,  present  to  his  thought;  and  consequently  does  not 
speak  in  his  own  person  exclusively,  but  in  behalf  of  his  peo- 
ple;  the  sense  being  this:  Speaking  for  Judah  and  Jerusalem,  I 
say  to  Edom  or  to  Babylon — "  Rejoice  not  over  me,  thou  insulting 
and  exulting  enemy ;  though  I  fall  in  war.  and  my  sons  and  daugh- 
ters go  into  captivity,  I  shall  arise  through  the  strength  of  my  Re- 
deemer God  ;  though  I  sit  in  the  darkness  of  a  fallen  kingdom,  my 
people  in  a  strange  land,  yet  the  Lord  shall  be  a  light  unto  me.*' 
It  should  be  carefully  noticed  that  the  prophet's  mind  is  pro- 
jected forward  from  the  awful  sins  of  the  land  to  the  consequent 
curse — the  captivity  in  Babylon,  and  to  the  deliverance  ultimately 
wrought  there  for  the  covenant  people  when  they  became  humbled, 
reformed,  and  penitent.  It  is  with  those  scenes  in  view  that  he 
addresses  Edom  and  Babylon  so  triumphantly  in  these  verses. 

9.  I  will  hear  the  indignation  of  the  Lord,  because  I 
have  sinned  against  him,  until  he  plead  my  cause,  and 
execute  judgment  for  me  :  he  will  bring  me  forth  to  the 
light9{md  I  shall  behold  his  righteousness. 

10.  Then  she  that  is  mine  enemy  shall  see  it,  and 
shame  shall  cover  her  which  said  unto  me,  Where  is 
the  Lord  thy  God  ?  mine  eyes  shall  behold  her :  now 
shall  she  be  trodden  down  as  the  mire  of  the  streets. 


MIC  AIL— CHAP.  VII.  215 

In  these  verses  also,  Micah  speaks  in  behalf  of  the  covenant 
people.  V.  9  gives  utterance  to  the  feelings  appropriate  under  such 
sore  chastisements  from  the  Lord — a  moral  lesson  for  all  in  affliction 
be  the  form  of  it  what  it  may. "Righteousness,"  in  such  a  con- 
nection, does  not  mean  simple  justice,  but  beneficence,  goodness 
God's  interposition  in  redeeming  and  saving  mercy.  This  specific 
sense  is  in  some  passages  entirely  essential ;  I,  therefore,  confirm 
it:  (I.)  By  the  fact  that  in  many  passages  "righteousness",  is 
parallel  to  "  salvation,"  and  therefore  synonymous  with  it,  e.  g., 
tsa.  51:  5,  6,  8:  "My  righteousness  is  near;  my  salvation  is  gone 
forth,"  &<?. — "  but  my  salvation  shall  be  forever,  and  my  righteous- 
ness shall  not  be  abolished  " — "  but  my  righteousness  shall  be  for- 
ever, and  my  salvation  from  generation  to  generation  ;  (2.)  In  other 
passages,  the  strain  of  the  context  and  the  nature  of  the  case  de- 
mand this  sense,  e.  g.,  Isa.  5L:'17;  which  means — God  will  save 
his  Zion  from  all  her  foes,  "  and  their  righteousness"  (i.  e.,  this  sal- 
vation) "  is  of  me,  saith  the  Lord."  Also  Ps.  51 :  1-i  :  "  Deliver  mo 
from  blood-guiltiness,  thou  God  of  my  salvation,  and  my  tongue 
shall  sing  aloud  of  thy  righteousness." — See  notes  on  Micah  6 :  5. 

In  v.  10,  the  English  translators  have  given  the  gender  of  the 
party  spoken  of — manifestly  the  same  that  is  addressed  in  v.  8. 
The  sense  is — The  great  enemy  of  Zion  (probably  Edom  or  Baby- 
Ton)  shall  see  the  salvation  wrought  of  God  for  us.  She  who  had 
said  tauntingly,  "Where  is  the  Lord  thy  God?"  shall  now  be 
overwhelmed  with  shame,  and  be  herself  trodden  under  foot  as 
mire  in  the  streets.  Whereas  she  looked  exultingly  on  me  in  my 
fall,  now  mine  eye  shall  behold  her  under  God's  righteous  retri- 
butions. 

11.  In  the  day  that  thy  walls  are  to  he  built,  in  that 
day  shall  the  decree  he  far  removed. 

12.  In  that  day  also  he  shall  come  even  to  thee  from 
Assyria,  and  from  the  fortified  cities,  and  from  the  for- 
tress even  to  the  river,  and  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from 
mountain  to  mountain. 

These  verses  obviously  speak  of  blessings  upon  Zion  in  the  day 
when  the  Lord,  having  turned  again  her  captivity,  shall  rebuild 
her  walls,  bring  home  her  captives  from  afar,  and  with  them  also 

"the  forces  of  the  Gentiles." Critics  have  differed  greatly  as  to 

the  precise  sense  of  the  words  rendered  "  shall  the  decree  be  far 
removed."  What  our  translators  meant  by  "  the  decree,"  or  by  its 
being  "  for  removed,"  is  by  no  means  clear.  It  is  plain  to  one  who 
reads  the  original,  that  Micah  chooses  his  words,  the  verb  :;: 
and  the  noun,f  for  the  sake  in  part  of  a  paranomasia,  the  two  last 
radicals  of  the  verb  and  the  two  which  compose  the  noun  being 
the  same,  and  therefore  the  sounds  of  each  are  similar.    For  the 


216  MICAH.— CHAP.  VII. 

sake  of  this  result,  he  may,  perhaps,  have  used  one  or  both  of  theso 
words  in  a  somewhat  unusual  sense.  This  may  occasion  some  of 
the  difficulties  found  by  critics  in  the  interpretation  of  the 
passage. 

The  following  construction  is  suggested  as  fully  in  harmony 
both  with  the  context  and  with  the  original  and  normal  use  of  both 
these  words:  "In  the  day  for  rebuilding  thy  walls,  in  that  day 
shall  limit  he  far  aioay  " — i.  e.,  the  city  bounds  shall  be  far  off;  the 
city  indefinitely  extended. This  use  of  the  noun  is  amply  justi- 
fied by  Job  14  :  5,  "Thou  hast  appointed  his  bounds  that  he  cannot 
pass"  (here,  of  time);  and  Job  26:  10,  "He  hath  compassed  the 
waters  with  'bounds''''  (here  limits  in  space,  as  in  our  passage), 
and  28  :  26,  "He  made  a  decree  (bound)  for  the  rain"  (determin- 
ing its  locality,  and,  perhaps,  quantity).  Isa.  5:  14,  "Hell  hath 
opened  her  mouth  without  measure  ;  "  literally,  "  and  there  is  no 
limit." 

The  primary  sense  of  the  verb  is — to  be  far  off,  far  removed. 

Parallel  in  general  meaning  is  Zech.  2 :  1-4,  where  the  first 

thought  is — Go,  measure  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  city  walls, 
as  if  to  rebuild  on  the  old  foundations ;  but  this  direction  is  with- 
drawn, and  God  promises — Jerusalem  shall  be  inhabited  without 
walls  for  the  multitude,  &c. -So  here  the  purpose  of  God  is  to  en- 
large her  borders  so  that  she  may  receive  great  accessions,  as  the 

next  verse  proceeds  to  say. The  verb  used  here  occurs  Isa.  33  : 

17:  "  Thine  eyes  shall  sec  the  King  in  his  beauty;  with  joy  shall 
they  behold  the  land  greatly  extended"  enlarged — their  king  in  his 

glory,  with  a  subject  territory  greatly  increased  on  every  side. 

In  sentiment  Isa.  54:  2,  3,  is  parallel:  "Enlarge  the  place  of  thy 
ten  I,  and  let  them  stretch  forth  the  curtains  of  thy  habitations ; 
spare  not;  lengthen  thy  cords,  and  strengthen  thy  stakes,  for  thou 
shalt  break  forth  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left,  and  thy  seed 
shall  inherit  the  Gentiles,  and  make  the  desolate  cities  to  be  inhab- 
ited." Eemembering  that  Micah  was  contemporary  with  Isaiah, 
and  that  there  are  abundant  proofs  of  their  acquaintance  with  each 
other's  writings,  we  shall  readily  account  for  their  saying  the  same 
things,  in  much  the  same  language,  as  to  the  day  when  the  fallen 
walls  of  Zion  shall  be  rebuilt.  Taught  by  one  and  the  same  Spirit, 
and  writing  of  the  same  things  in  the  same  age,  why  should  not 

their  views  and  their  language  be  essentially  the  same? Gese- 

nius  gives  these  words  here  this  sense — "  The  set  time  is  greatly 
extended."  But  it  does  not  clearly  appear  from  the  context  what 
this  "set  time"  is,  nor  is  any  good  reason  apparent  for  restricting 
the  enlargement  to  the  one  element  of  time.  I  prefer  the  broader 
sense  as  given  above,  which  may  indeed  comprise  enlargement  in 
territory,  in  capacity  for  receiving  great  accessions  to  the  church, 
and  in  the  period  of  this  prosperity — enlargement  in  the  most  gen- 
eral sense.     Hence,  the  broad,  indefinite  form  of  the  statement. 

In  v.  12,  the  first  verb  is  impersonal,  and    therefore  means, 

not  that  "  /;<?,"  some  one  man,  shall  come  from  Assyria,  but  that 


MICAH.— CHAP.  VII.  217 

men,  peoples,  it  may  be  in  vast  numbers,  shall  come.  The  word 
rendered  "  fortified,""  *  I  prefer  to  render  Egypt,  thus—"  In  that 
day  shall  men  come  to  thee  from  Assyria  and  from  the  cities  of 
Egypt ;  and  from  Egypt  even  to  the  great  river  (Euphrates)  ;  from 
sea  to  sea  and  from  mountain  to  mountain ;  "  i.  e.,  from  all  the 
intervening  regions,  which  indeed  comprise  all  that  vast  country 
lying  contiguous  to  Palestine,  and  stretching  out  to  the  remotest 
hounds  of  Egypt  on  the  southwest,  and  to  Assyria  on  the  north  and 
east.  From  these  remote  lands  shall  the  exiles  return,  and,  as  above 
intimated,  perhaps  Gentiles  as  well,  for  the  promise  may  look  far 
on  beyond  the  restoration  from  Babylon,  although  its  primary 
reference  is  probably  to  that  event. 

13.  IS  otwithstanding  the  land  shall  be  desolate  be- 
cause of  them  that  dwell  therein,  for  the  fruit  of  their 
doings. 

The  sense  is — Notwithstanding  these  glorious  promises  of  future 
enlargement,  every  way  adapted  to  inspire  high  and  brilliant  anti- 
cipations, yet  bear  in  mind  "that  for  the  great  sins  of  the  people, 
an  age  of  judgment  and  desolation  will  surely  intervene.  Before 
those  better  days  shall  come,  the  land  will  lie  a  long  time  desolate 
as  the  fruit  of  the  people's  sins."  A  caution  against  abusing  these 
promises.    , 

14.  Feed  thy  people  with  thy  rod,  the  flock  of  thine 
heritage,  which  dwell  solitarily  in  the  wood,  in  the 
midst  of  Carmel :  let  them  feed  in  Bashan  and  Gilead, 
as  in  the  days  of  old. 

The  word  rendered  "feed  "  is  pastoral — the  usual  term  to  de- 
scribe the  service  of  the  shepherd.  It,  therefore,  combines  the  two 
ideas — feeding,  and  ruling,  or  guiding.  Hence  to  the  Hebrews 
there  would  be  no  incongruity  in  supposing  this  feeding  to  be  done 
with  the  "rod" — which  is  here  the  shepherd's  crook;  not  a  rod 
for  scourging.  The  sense  of  the  verse  is — Take  charge  of  thy  peo- 
ple as  a  shepherd  of  his  flock ;  they  are  thine  heritage,  now  solitary 
in  the  forest;  let  them  feed  in  the  rich  pastures  of  Bashan  and 
Gilead,  as  of  old.  This  is  the  prayer  of  the  prophet.  He  expects 
the  people  to  join  in  it. 

15.  According  to  the  days  of  thy  coming  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt  will  I  show  unto  him  marvellous  things. 

This  verse  may  fitly  be  considered  as  the  answer  of  the  Lord  to 
the  prayer  in  the  verse  preceding.  It  pledges  miraculous  inter- 
position and  effective  help,  as  in  the  Exodus  from  Egypt — the  stand- 
ing historic  case  to  signify  a  glorious  salvation. 

*  ■visa 
10 


218  MICAH.— CHAP.  VII. 

16.  The  nations  shall  see  and  be  confounded  at  all 
their  might :  they  shall  lay  their  hand  upon  their  month, 
their  ears  shall  be  deaf. 

17.  They  shall  lick  the  dnst  like  a  serpent,  they  shall 
move  ont  of  their  holes  like  worms  of  the  earth :  they 
shall  be  afraid  of  the  Lord  our  God,  and  shall  fear  be- 
cause of  thee. 

Here  are  the  effects  on  the  Gentile  nations  of  God's  marvellous 
deliverances  to  be  wrought  for  his  people.  They  shall  see  and  shall 
he  ashamed  of  their  own  insignificant  prowess.  They  may  be  sup- 
posed to  say — "  We  have  no  power  to  cope  with  that ;  all  our 
strength  vanishes  away  before  such  marvellous  works."  They  shall 
be  dumb  and  deaf,  as  men  astonished  and  stupefied  with  amazement. 
They  shall  lick  the  dust,  humbling  themselves  low  before  the  glori- 
ous majesty  of  Jehovah.  They  shall  crawl  out  of  their  holes  in  the 
ground — a  strong  figure,  to  denote  the  change  that  has  come  over 

their  glory  and  greatuess. The  last  clause  should  read  thus : 

"  They  shall  approach  with  humble  fear  and  reverence  unto  the 
Lord  our  God  " — this  shade  of  meaning  being  required  by  the  prep- 
osition rendered  "  unto."  See  notes  on  Hos.  3  :  5.  Thus  those 
thrilling  impressions  of  awe  and  fear  arc  to  avail  for  the  conversion 
of  the  Gentile  nations. 

18.  Who  is  a  God  like  imto  thee,  that  pardoneth  in- 
iquity, and  passeth  by  the  transgression  of  the  remnant 
of  his  heritage  ?  he  retaineth  not  his  anger  for  ever,  be- 
cause he  delighteth  in  mercy. 

That  sins  so  great  should  be  so  entirely  forgiven,  so  fully  passed  over, 
to  be  noticed  and  known  no  more — and  that  God  should  so  fully  turn 
from  his  righteous  anger,  and  give  scope  only  to  his  great  mercy — 
is  most  wonderful!  As  the  prophet  thinks  of  these  qualities  of  the 
divine  mercy  in  the  case  of  his  forgiving  his  covenant  people  and 
restoring  them  again  to  favors  so   great,  his  heart  is  overwhelmed 

within  him.     And  why  not?     What  can  be  more  wonderful ? 

This  language  is  full  of  beauty  and  of  strength  as  well.  "Who  is  a 
God  like  Thee,  taking  away  sin  "  (to  be  seen  and  noted  no  more), 
"passing  over  the  transgressions  of  the  remnant  of  his  chosen"  (as 
a  traveller  passes  by  what  he  does  not  wish  to  notice) ;  "  and  he  does 
not  make  his  wrath  strong  forever  "  (implying  that  he  does  the  very 
opposite — makes  it  subside  and  give  place  to  loving-kindness.)  And  all 
this  "because  he  delighteth  in  mercy  "),  finding  his  real  bliss,  even  the 
highest  joy  of  his  heart  in  forgiving  the  chief  of  sinners.)  Is  not  all 
this  most  precious  and  most  wonderful  ?  Who,  having  once  seen 
his  own  guilt  in  all  its  appalling  blackness  and  vileness,  and  then 
felt  the  sweet  sense  of  pardon,  as  if  God  himself  were  whispering 
peace  and  love  to  his  heart,  will  not  appreciate  this  inimitable  de- 
scription of  the  pardoning  love  of  the  Lord? 


MICAII.— CHAP.  VII.  .219 

19.  He  will  turn  again,  he  will  have  compassion 
upon  us ;  he  will  subdue  our  iniquities ;  and  thou  wilt 
cast  all  their  sins  into  the  depths  of  the  sea. 

This  verse  may,  without  violence,  be  construed  as  a  sort  of  re- 
frain or  response,  taken  up  by  the  people  themselves,  who  enter 
mto  the  spirit  of  the  prophet's  words,  and  respond  in  terms  scarcely 
less  pertinent  and  affecting.  Or  it  may  very  fitly  be  considered  as 
the  prophet's  own  application  of  the  previous  verse  to  the  case  of 
God's  covenant  people.  Either  way  the  general  sentiment  is  the 
same.  God  will  turn  from  scourging  to  blessing,  when  his  smitten 
people  turn  from  their  sins  to  righteousness.  "  He  will  have  com- 
passion upon  us."    Ah,  yes,  indeed  lie  will!     Such  a  God,  so  full 

of  loving  pity,  how  can  it  be  otherwise  ? "  He  will  subdue  our 

iniquities,"  the  original  word  for  "subdue"  implying  that  be  will 
tread  them  down  under  his  feet — as  an  apostle  said,  "He  will 
tread  Satan  under  your  feet  shortly."  Sin,  personified,  command- 
ing its  forces  of  temptation,  is  thought  of  as  a  powerful  foe  of  man, 
as  his  arch  enemy,  perpetually  ensnaring,  assailing,  crushing  down 
and  piercing  through  with  bitter  pangs ;  but  God  subdues  this  en- 
emy ;  he  withstands  his  efforts;  sets  himself  to  counteract  his  temp- 
tations, and  becomes  himself  a  strong  tower  of  refuge,  whither  his 
people  may  fly  and  into  which  they  may  run  and  be  safe !     O  how 

inexpressibly  precious ! "Thou  wilt  cast  all  their  sins  into  the 

depths  of  the  sea,"  and  they  go  down  like  a  millstone,  to  rise  no 
more  !  The  idea  is,  that  they  come  up  no  more  to  remembrance — 
as  the  Lord  has  said,  "  Their  sins  and  their  iniquities  will  I  remem- 
ber no  more!  "  (Heb.  8: 12).  Considering  that  the  Infinite  Mind 
of  the  Universe  never  has  lost  from  its  thought  and  knowledge  one 
fact,  however  minute,  and  never  can,  this  statement  seems  most 
wonderful  of  all.  God  would  have  us  feel  that  he  does  not  remem- 
ber against  us  the  sin  which  we  have  fully  repented  of  and  heartily 
forsaken,  and  which  therefore  he  has  altogether  forgiven  and  put 
away.  He  would  almost  lead  us  to  think  that  he  can  forget  them 
and  has  forgotten  them,  so  that  they  shall  come  before  his  mind 

even  in  memory  no  more! O  how  divinely  kind  and  gracious  is 

this !  How  like  a  tender  Father !  That  he  should  labor  to  dispel 
from  our  mind  those  painful  feelings  of  shame  and  grief  over  our 
sins,  and  should  seem  to  say,  "  Gome  near  to  me  and  be  my  free- 
hearted, loving  child,  as  welcome  to  my  smiles  and  confidence  and 

favor  as  if  you  had  never  sinned  against  me !  " Let  this  infinite 

Friend,  so  kind  and  so  gracious,  be  loved,  trusted,  and  adored  by 
us  all,  for  ever  and  ever! 

20.  Thou  wilt  perform  the  truth  to  Jacob,  and  the 
mercy  to  Abraham,  which  thou  hast  sworn  unto  our 
fathers  from  the  days  of  old. 

Here  the  book  closes,  affirming  that  such  a  God  will  surely  per 


220  MICAH.— CHAR  VII. 

form  all  the  good  things,  the  truth  and  the  mercy  promised  to  the 
fathers  long  years  ago.  No  doubt  he  will!  Zachanas,  filled  with 
the  Holy  Ghost,  caught  the  spirit  as  well  as  the  leading  words  of 
this  passage  :  «  To  perform  the  mercy  promised  to  our  fathers,  and 
to  remember  his  holy  covenant,"  &c.  (Luke  1 :  72). 


SAHUM 


INTRODUCTION. 

TnE  introduction  to  this  short  hook  gives  us  only  the  general 
subject— a  prediction  of  sore  calamity  on  Nineveh ;  the  name  of 
the  author  and  the  place  of  his  residence,  or  perhaps  nativity.  The 

latter  point,  being  of  small  importance,  I  dispose  of  it  briefly. 

Two  places  bear  the  name  of  Elkosh,  and  claim  the  honor  of  this 
prophet's  birth  ;— one,  beyond  the  Tigris  ;  the  other,  in  Galilee— 
the  latter  with  the  greater  plausibility.  Some  think  that  Caper- 
naum — village  of  Nauni — bears  the  name  of  this  prophet. 

The  date  of  the  book  is  a  greater  question.  It  can,  however,  be 
answered  only  proximately.  The  location  of  the  book  in  the  series 
of  minor  prophets  probably  had  some  reference  to  its  date ;  but  the 
internal  evidence  in  the  line  of  historic  allusion  is  our  main  reliance. 

This  goes  to  place  him  a  little  after  Micah. His  great  theme 

being  the  fall  of  Nineveh,  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  he 
wrote  soon  after  the  famous  invasion  of  Judah  by  Sennacherib  and 
the  utter  overthrow  of  his  army.  That  this  event  had  thrilled  the 
nation  may  be  seen  in  numerous  passages  of  Isaiah,  e.  {/.,  10  :  24-34, 
and  14  :  24-27,  and  17  :  12-14,  and  33  ;  and  3G-39  chap.  It  could 
not  be  otherwise.  Hence,  naturally  and  properly,  the  Lord  by  his 
prophets  sought  to  turn  these  signal  events  to  the  best  moral 
account.  Isaiah,  though  alluding  to  these  transactions  so  often,  had 
yet  mostly  passed  over  the  retribution  which  the  Lord  would  one 
day  bring  on  Nineveh.  This  was  left  for  Nahum.  It  was  important, 
for  the  best  moral  impression  on  the  people,  that  this  should  be 
revealed,  and  indeed  that  it  should  be  written  and  made  public 
soon  after  the  invasion  by  Sennacherib  and  the  defeat  of  his  army 


222  KAHUM.— CHAP.  I. 

— at  least,  before  the  first  impressions  made  by  those  events  hal 

passed  away. Now,  this  great  invasion  was  in  the  fourteenth 

year  of  Hezekiah  (2  Kings  18:  13),  whose  reign  of  twenty-nine 
years  fell  b.  c.  728-699— consequently,  about  b.  c.  714,  and  Nahum 
would  be  located  in  time  during  the  latter  part  of  Hezekiah's  reign. 

This  book    furnishes  one  other    historic  point — a  reference 

(3:8-10)  to  the  fall  of  "No-Arnon,"  otherwise  called  Thebes 
and  Diospolis,  the  famous  capital  of  Upper  Egypt.  The  manner 
of  the  prophet's  allusion  to  this  event  implies  that  it  was  then  past, 
yet  probably  recent  and  fresh  in  the  minds  of  his  first  readers.  But 
no  extant  history  chronicles  precisely  the  date  of  her  fall.  "What 
Isaiah  says  (20  : 1-6)  of  Sargon,  king  of  Assyria,  and  of  his  general 
Tartan,  almost  without  doubt  refers  to  this  event,  the  more  surely 
so,  because  both  Isaiah  and  Nakuni  represent  the  Ethiopians  as 
being  the  allies  of  the  Egyptians,  and  involved  in  the  ruin  of  their 
great  city.  The  location  of  this  narrative  in  the  book  of  Isaiah 
favors  its  date  somewhat  earlier  than  the  march  of  Sennacherib 
upon  Jerusalem.     Sargon  is  known  to  have  reigned  next  before 

Sennacherib. These  facts  and  suppositions  go  to  confirm  the 

views  above  presented  respecting  the  date  of  this  book,  as  falling  in 

the  latter  part  of  the  reign  of  Hezekiah,  i.  e.,  b.  c.  710-700. The 

fall  of'Mneveh,  which  Nahum  so  vividly  describes,  chapters  2  and 
8,  took  place  from  seventy-five  to  eighty  years  after  the  date 
assumed  for  this  prophecy.  It  fell  before  the  allied  forces  of  the 
Medes  under  Cyaxares  and  the  Chaldeans  under  Nabopolassar,  the 
precise  date  being  assigned  by  the  most  reliable  historians  to  b.  c. 
C25 

All  tiie  critics  accord  to  Xahtim  a  style  of  lofty  sublimity  and  a 
power  of  graphic  painting  rarely  surpassed.  He  wrote  as  one 
whose  very  soul  was  permeated  and  thrilled  by  the  great  events 
of  his  time,  and  who  saw  God's  hand  in  them — a  present  and  glori- 
ous power  for  salvation  to  his  people,  and  for  vengeance  on  their 
foes.  To  see  the  beauty  and  feel  the  force  of  his  book,  we  shall 
need  to  imbue  our  hearts  deeply  with  the  true  spirit  and  sig- 
nificance of  those  momentous  facts  of  history. 


NAHUM.— CHAP.  I.  223 


CHAPTER    I. 

Aptee  the  briefest  possible  introduction,  the  prophet  breaks 
into  the  midst  of  his  theme,  his  starting-point  being  most  fitly  those 
great  qualities  of  the  divine  character  which  both  the  recent  events 
of  history  and  the  burden  of  his  prophecy  conspire  to  illustrate — 
especially  his  retributive  vengeance  upon  his  enemies,  coupled  with 
his  merciful  protection  and  deliverance  of  his  people.  Hence  we 
have  mainly  God's  judgments  on  his  foes  (vs.  2-G) ;  God  a  refuge  for 
his  people  (v.  7) ;  the  overthrow  of  Sennacherib's  army  before 
Jerusalem  (vs.  8-1 4) ;  and  the  ensuing  peace  and  joy  (v.  15). 

1.  The  burden  of  Nineveh.  The  book  of  the  vision 
of  ISTahum  the  Elkoshite: 

A  "  burden  "  in  prophecy,  here  as  elsewhere,  is  a  message  of 
calamity,  predicting  judgment  and  desolation. 

2.  God  is  jealous,  and  the  Lord  revengeth  ;  the  Lord 
revengeth,  and  is  furious  ;  the  Lord  will  take  vengeance 
on  his  adversaries,  and  he  reserveth  wrath  for  his  ene- 
mies. m 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  these  attributes  of  Jehovah  are 
suggested  by  his  retributive  justice  on  Assyria,  first,  in  destroying 
her  great  army  when  it  came  proudly  and  defiantly  to  lay  waste 
the  holy  city ;  and  next,  in  the  future  desolations  of  Nineveh,  their 
great  and  proud  capital.  These  historic  facts  may  serve  as  illustra- 
tions of  the  sense  in  which  Jehovah  is  u  jealous,"  "revengeth,"  and 

"taketh    vengeance." The    word    "furious"    in   the  English 

version  should  not  be  taken  in  the  bad  sense  which  has  in  modern 
times  become  predominant — as  when  spoken  of  wild  beasts  enraged, 
or  men  half  frantic.  The  original  is  innocent  of  this  special  sig- 
nificance, and  simply  implies  that  the  Lord  is  moved  with  indignation 
against  his  proud,  determined  enemies. 

3.  The  Lord  is  slow  to  anger,  and  great  in  power, 
and  will  not  at  all  acquit  the  wicked :  the  Lord  hath  his 
way  in  the  whirlwind  and  in  the  storm,  and  the  clouds 
are  the  dust  of  his  feet. 

The  first  clause  continues  the  glowing  description  of  Jehovah's 
attributes,  most  of  the  expressions  being  taken  from  the  classic 
passage  (Ex.  34  :  G,  7)  where  the  Lord  proclaimed  his  name  to  Moses 

as  one  slow  to  anger,  yet  who  will  not  at  all  acquit  the  guilty. 

The  last  clause  opens  one  of  the  grandest  portrayings  of  the 
majesty  of  Jehovah  ever  drawn  by  human  pen :  "  Jehovah — his 
way  is  in  the  whirlwind  and  in  the  storm,  and  the  clouds  are  the 
dust  about  his  feet."  Across  the  deserts  of  the  East  a  moving  car- 
avan is  seen  farthest  by  the  dust  they  raise.    So  the  clouds  are  the 


224:  NAHUM.— CHAP.  I. 

dust  rising  beneath  his  feet  and  marking  the  pathway  of  his 
glorious  presence. 

4.  He  rebuketk  the  sea,  and  rnaketk  it  dry,  and 
drieth  up  all  the  rivers :  Bashan  languisheth,  and  Carmel, 
and  the  flower  of  Lebanon  languisheth. 

With  an  eye  perhaps  on  the  Eed  sea  and  the  Jordan,  the  prophet 
proceeds:  "He  rebuketh  the  sea  and  so  dries  it  up,"  i.  e.,  by  his 
mere  word  of  rebuke.  Also,  through  his  power  of  withholding 
rain,  all  vegetation,  even  in  the  most  fertile  regions,  withers. 

5.  The  mountains  quake  at  him,  and  the  hills  melt, 
and  the  earth  is  burned  at  his  presence,  yea,  the  world, 
and  all  that  dwell  therein. 

In  the  phrase  "the  earth  is  burnt  at  his  presence,"  the  original 
verb  gives  no  sanction  to  the  sense  to  burn,  but  must  mean  is  lifted 
up,  with  reference  to  the  upheaval  of  its  crust  by  volcanic  agents. 
The  whole  verse  refers  to  this  class  of  agencies. "  The  moun- 
tains tremble  before  him,"  or  "because  of  him"  (not  properly  "at 
him"),  "the  hills  melt,"  liquid  lava  gushing  forth  from  their  bowels 
and  pouring  down  their  sides— and  the  solid  crust  of  the  earth's 
surface  is  upheaved  with  its  cities  and  all  their  vast  population. 

6.  Who  can  stand  before  his  indignation  ?  and  who 
can  abide  in  the  fierceness  of  his  anger  ?  his  fury  is 
poured  out  like  fire,  and  the  rocks  are  thrown  down  by 
him. 

With  the  terrible  agencies  of  the  volcano  and  the  earthquake 
still  in  mind,  the  prophet  fitly  asks — "  Who  can  stand  before  Jeho- 
vah's indignation?"  "Who.  can  rise  up  against  his  burning 
wrath  ?  "  "  Rise  up,"  and  not  "  abide,"  is  the  sense  of  the  Hebrew. 
His  fury  is  poured  forth  like  rivers  of  lava  from  the  craters  of  Ve- 
suvius. How,  then,  can  the  wicked  endure  before  him  when  once  he 
ariseth  in  his  wrath  ? 

7.  The  Lord  is  good,  a  strong  hold  in  the  day  of 
trouble  ;  and  he  knoweth  them  that  trust  in  him. 

By  a  sudden,  yet  most  expressive  transition,  this  same  God  is  a 
glorious  refuge  for  his  people.  He  is  none  the  less  good  because  he 
feels  such  indignation  against  incorrigible  sin.  He  will  defend  his 
trustful  children  none  the  less  because  his  wrath  is  so  terrible 
against  his  and  their  foes.  Indeed,  his  wrath  against  their  foes  is  the 
pledge  and  guaranty  of  his  love  for  them,  and  of  his  purpose  to  de- 
fend them  forever. This  side  of  his  character  had  its  present  il- 
lustration in  the  deliverance  wrought  for  Judah  when  just  about  to 
fall  before  the  armed  hordes  of  Assyria.  In  the  phrase  "  he  knoweth 
them  that  trust  in  him,"  "  hnoiceth  "  takes  the  strong  sense  of  a  pe- 
culiar and  most  tender  regard. 


NAHUM.— CHAP.  I.  225 

8.  But  with  an  overrunning  flood  he  will  make  an 
utter  end  of  the  place  thereof,  and  darkness  shall  pursue 
his  enemies. 

From  this  point  onward  through  the  chapter,  Sennacherib's  army 
is  before  the  mind,  and  the  prophet  alludes  to  their  mischievous 
plottings  against  the  people  of  God,  and  to  his  consequent  retri- 
bution upon  them  in  their  complete  destruction.  A  question  of 
some  importance  arises  here,  upon  which  interpreters  differ,  viz., 
Whether  the  prophet's  allusions  to  the  invasion  of  Judah  by  Sen- 
nacherib (vs.  8-15)  are  prophecy  or  history,  Was  this  passage  writ- 
ten before  or  after  the  invasion? My  mind  inclines  strongly  to 

the  latter  view,  on  the  following  grounds:  (1.)  The  tenses  of  the 
verbs  used  at  least  admit  this  construction.  Owing  to  a  striking 
peculiarity  in  the  use  of  the  Hebrew  tenses  in  prophecy,  or  rather, 
perhaps,  to  the  mental  stand-point  of  the  prophet  when  visions  of 
the  future  are  brought  before  him,  it  becomes  very  difficult  to  de- 
termine, from  the  tenses  alone,  what  is  prophecy  and  what  is 
history.  In  this  passage  it  would  be  hard  to  show  absolutely  from 
the  tenses  alone,  that  either  theory  is  impossible.  There  is  plainly 
nothing  in  the  tenses  to  forbid  the  construction  of  what  relates  to 

Sennacherib's  invasion  as  recently  past. Thus  the  verbs  in  v.  8 

are  future,  but  they  refer  to  the  future  fall  of  Nineveh — about  b.  o. 
625.  (V.  9),  thus  (literally) :  "  What  will  ye  devise  against  Jehovah  ? " 
The  sense  is — How  can  ye  devise  any  thing  to  purpose  against  such 
an  one  as  Jehovah  ?— which  has  augmented  force,  considered  as 
spoken  after  the  fall  of  Sennacherib's  host.  The  reasons  given 
are,  "He makes "  (not  "  will  make ")  " ruin  complete."  "  Affliction 
shall  not  rise  again  " — from  you,  or  from  any  whom  the  Lord  has 
once  undertaken  to  destroy.     These  reasons  are  all  fully  in  point, 

considered  as  said  after  the  invasion  and  its  defeat. In  v.  10  the 

sense  is — "  Though  compacted  like  tangled  thorns  and  soaked  with 
strong  drink,  they  toere  devoured  "  (the  Hebrew  is  in  the  past  tense) 
"like  dry  stubble."  In  v.  11  read  "From  thee  came  out"  (past 
tense)  "  one  who  plotted  mischief" — alluding  to  the  past  purpose 
and  deed  of  Sennacherib.  The  twelfth  verse  has  past  tenses  through- 
out ;  not  "  shall  they  be  cut  down,"  but  they  were  cut. "  Though 

I  have  afflicted  thee,  I  will  afflict  thee  no  more,"  is  literal,  and 

properly  assume  that  the  invasion  is  past. The  thirteenth  verse 

means  that  now  and  henceforth,  I  will  break  off  his  yoke  from 
upon  thee.  Thou  shalt  have  nothing  to  fear  more  from  the  Assyrian 
power. In  v.  14,  the  infamy  and  disgraceful  death  of  Sennach- 
erib assume  that  the  invasion  is  past. In  v.  15,  the  messengers 

with  tidings  of  their  fall — the  call  to  Judah  to  resume  her  solemn 
feasts  for  her  Belial  shall  never  come  near  even  to  alarm  her  again 
— all  is  specially  pertinent  and  life-like  on  the  assumption  that  the 
deed  is  done. There  can,  therefore,  be  no  objection  to  its  con- 
struction as  history  on  the  score  of  the  Hebrew  tenses,  nor  in  the 
strain  of  the  passage. (2.)  The  passage  (1 :  2-7)  is  especially  per- 


226  NAHUM.— CHAP.  I. 

tinent  and  forcible  on  the  supposition  that  the  fall  of  Sennacherib's 

host  is  in  the  recent  past,  and  fresh  before  all  minds. (3.)  There 

is  great  pertinence  in  going  forward  from  these  events  of  recent  his- 
tory to  predict  the  final  ruin  of  Assyria,  in  righteous  retribution  for 

her  bold  and  impious  defiance  of  the  Most  High  God. (4.)  The 

history  of  the  event  as  given  (Isa.  37)  goes  far  to  show  that  no 
prophecy  of  Nahum,  predicting  the  fall  of  this  Assyrian  host,  was 
extant  before  that  fall.  The  king  and  even  the  pious  portion  of  the 
people  were  in  deep  agitation,  not  to  say  consternation ;  they  come 
to  Isaiah  for  some  light  from  the  Lord,  and  he  gives  it.     Then  their 

fears  are  allayed  and  their  faith  confirmed. The  whole  tenor  of 

these  transactions  implies  that  nothing  is  known  of  any  prediction 
from  Mbum  of  the  failure  of  this  invasion  and  the  consequent  ruin 

of  its  author. (5.)  The  Book  of  Nahum  must  be  taken  as  one 

whole,  written  at  one  time.  But  it  is  scarcely  supposable  that  the 
whole,  including  the  prediction  of  the  final  fall  of  Nineveh,  dates 

before  this  great  invasion  of  Judah. These  considerations  seem 

decisive. 

There  is  a  sudden  transition  from  v.  7,  where  God  is  a  refuge 
to  his  people,  to  v.  8,  where  he  is  a  sweeping  flood,  overwhelming 
Nineveh  and  obliterating  even  its  ancient  foundations.  The  ideas, 
however,  are  kindred,  for  Cod  is  such  a  refuge  to  his  people  be- 
cause he  is  such  a  power  of  destruction  upon  her  enemies. The 

figure — "with  a  flood  sweeping  over  the  land" — is  probably  bor- 
rowed from  Isaiah  8  :  7,  8,  where  it  describes  the  desolating  march 
of  the  vast  Assyrian  army  over  the  land  of  Judah.  By  a  fit  and 
most  palpable  retribution,  armies,  equally  vast  and  desolating,  shall 
yet  come  down  on  Nineveh,  and  shall  make  an  utter  end  of  even 
the  site  where  she  stood  so  long  in  her  glory.  The  darkness  of  ob- 
livion shall  chase  down  these  enemies  of  God,  and  they  shall  sink 
from  the  knowledge  of  coming  generations. 

9.  What  do  ye  imagine  against  tlie  Lokd  ?  lie  will 
make  an  utter  end  :  affliction  shall  not  rise  up  the  second 
time. 

The  prophet  puts  this  bold  question  to  the  proud  Assyrian 
invader:  "What  would  ye  plot  against  Jehovah?"  "He  will 
make  an  utter  end"  of  his  foes  and  of  you.  " Trouble  to  many 
people  shall  not  arise  from  you  a  second  time."  Once  smitten,  you 
will  never  return  to  harass  them  again. 

10.  For  while  they  he  folden  together  as  thorns,  and 
while  they  are  drunken  as  drunkards,  they  shall  be  de- 
voured as  stubble  fully  dry. 

For  though  your  armies  move  in  phalanx,  closely  interlaced  as 
thorns  in  their  wild  growth,  and  though  they  reel  under  their 
intoxication,  they  shall  be  devoured  as  stubble  burns  when  perfectly 
dry. That  they  are  said  to  be  drunken  as  with  wine,  and  hence 


NAHUM.— CHAP.  I.  227 

to  reel  in  their  intoxication,  may  allude  to  a  striking  fact  in  God's 
agency  over  nations  doomed  to  judgment,  and  also  to  a  very  strik- 
ing figure  to  represent  this  fact—the  fact  being  that  God  gives  such 
nations  over  to  infatuation  ;  and  the  figure  to  express  it  being  this 
(as  appears  in  Jer.  25  :  15-29).  God  sends  round  to  the  nations  the 
wine-cup  of  his  fury,  and  they  drink  till  they  are  "moved"  and 
"mad."  Hence  they  are  easily  destroyed.  They  more  than  half 
destroy  themselves.  The  slaveholding  power  of  this  American 
nation  is  a  case  quite  in  point,  evincing  this  same  mad  infatuation 
which  is  both  a  natural  and  a  governmental  forerunner  of  destruc- 
tion.    The  wine-cup  of  Jehovah's  fury  has  been  to  their  lips ! 

11.  There  is  one  come  out  of  tliee,  that  imagineth 
evil  against  the  Lord,  a  wicked  counsellor. 

Sennacherib  or  Eabshakeh.  He  comes  forth  out  of  Assyria,  or 
perhaps,  specially  from  Nineveh,  devising  evil  against  Jehovah  as 
the  king  of  his  covenant  people. 

12.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  Though  they  be  quiet,  and 
likewise  many,  yet  thus  shall  they  be  cut  down,  when 
he  shall  pass  through.  Though  I  have  afflicted  thee,  I 
will  afflict  thee  no  more. 

The  Lord  sees  this  heathen  king  deliberately  plotting  the 
destruction  of  Judah,  and  therefore  declares  his  purpose  to  destroy 

him  and  his  army. The  first  prominent  word,  rendered  "  quiet," 

more  properly  means  complete,  furnished  with  every  appliance  for 
success  in  their  proposed  object.  Though  they  are  fully  equipped, 
and  withal  so  very  many,  yet  shall  they  be  cut  down  (as  the  figure 
in  v.  10  had  expressed  it)  when  he,  the  destroying  angel,  shall  pass 

through  their  camp. Isaiah  records  this  event  in  these  brief 

words  :  "  Then  the  angel  of  the  Lord  went  forth  and  smote  in  the 
camp  of  the  Assyrians  an  hundred  and  fourscore  and  five  thousand, 
and  when  they  arose  early  in  the  morning,  behold,  they  were  all 

dead  corpses  "  (Isa.  37  :  36). Byron  has  put  this  scene  in  his 

best  style  : 

"Like  the  leaves  of  the  forest  when  summer  is  green, 
That  host  with  their  banners  at  sunset  were  seen ; 
Like  the  leaves  of  the  forest  when  autumn  hath  blown, 
That  host  on  the  morrow  lay  withered  and  strown. 
For  the  angel  of  death  spread  his  wings  on  the  blast, 
And  breathed  on  the  face  of  the  foe  as  he  passed, 
And  the  eyes  of  the  sleepers  waxed  deadly  and  chill, 
And  their  hearts  but  once  heaved,  and  forever  were  still." 

The  last  clause — "though  I  have  afflicted  thee,"  &c,  refers  to 
Judah,  now  relieved  from  danger,  and  no  more  to  he  afflicted  by 
this  long  dangerous  enemy. 

13.  For  now  will  Inbreak  his  yoke  from  off  thee,  and 
will  burst  thy  bonds  m  sunder. 


228  NAHUM.— CHAP.  I. 

This  verse  expands  the  thought  just  before  expressed. 

14.  And  the  Lord  hath  given  a  commandment  con- 
cerning thee,  that  no  more  of  thy  name  be  sown :  out 
of  the  house  of  thy  gods  will  I  cnt  off  the  graven  image 
and  the  molten  image :  I  will  make  thy  grave ;  for  thou 
art  vile. 

The  person  spoken  of  must  be  the  Assyrian  king.  No  scion  of 
his  family  should  again  take  root ;  no  child  come  to  the  honor  of 
his  father's  throne.     This  would  seem  to  be  the  most  natural  sense 

of  these  words. But  according  to  the  dim  light  of  the  history  of 

those  times,  its  precise  fulfilment  is  not  readily  made  out.  The 
king  should  be  Sennacherib  who  headed  the  famous  invasion  of 
Jndah  and  Jerusalem.  All  the  latter  part  of  this  verse  14  finds  an 
accurate  fulfilment  in  him.  He  made  his  grave  in  the  house  of  his 
gods — a  vile,  "  light  "  man,  of  no  particular  account.  "  Light  "  is 
the  sense  of  the  Hebrew  word.  But  Isaiah  records  (37  :  38),  "  and 
Esarhaddon,  his  son,  reigned  in  his  stead."  History  assigns  to  this 
Esarhaddon  a  reign  of  thirty-five  years.     How,  then,  could  it  be 

said,  no  son  of  Sennacherib   should  come  to  the  throne  ? To 

avoid  this  difficulty,  Dr.  Henderson  holds  that  the  threatening  was 
not  to  take  effect  at  his  death,  but  only  at  the  final  destruction  of 
Mneveh — which  he  locates  b.  c.  G25 — almost  a  century  in  the 
future.  Then,  his  dynasty  should  become  extinct.  He  says,  "It 
does  not  mean  that  none  of  his  sons  should  succeed  him  in  the 
government."  But  this  is  just  what  it  seems  to  say,  if  we  give  the 
language  a  sense  which  affirms  the  extinction  of  his  dynasty.  If 
the  words  affirm  extinction  at  all,  they  affirm  it  to  take  effect  at 

once. Others,  with  better  success,  give  the  words  this  turn — 

that  his  name,  in  the  sense  of  fame,  reputation,  should  be  diffused 
abroad — sown  broadcast,  no  more.  He  should  die  in  dishonor  as  a 
vile  man,  and  his  name  go  down  to  posterity  only  in  disgrace.  In 
this  sense  of  the  prophecy,  its  fulfilment  presents  no  difficulty. 

15.  Behold  upon  the  mountains  the  feet  of  him  that 
bringeth  good  tidings,  that  publisheth  peace !  O  Judah, 
keep  thy  solemn  feasts,  perform  thy  vows :  for  the  wicked 
shall  no  more  pass  through  thee  :  he  is  utterly  cut  off. 

"War  telegrams  were  borne  in  those  days  by  swift  runners  (see  2 
Sam.  18 :  19  ff).  When  they  brought  tidings  of  victory  and  peace, 
their  approach  might  well  be  hailed  with  joy.  So  now  of  these  mes- 
sengers with  tidings  of  the  utter  ruin  that  befell  Assyria's  proud  hosts 
in  that  one  fatal  night.  The  prophet's  graphic  touch  of  this  scene  is 
masterly.  He  gives  no  long  and  tedious  details :  his  mind  flashes 
over  and  past  them  all,  to  light  on  one  or  two  most  significant  and 
expressive  results.  "  Go,  Judah,  now,  and  keep  thy  solemn  feasts  : 
perform  thy  vows  made  in  the  hour  of  thy  peril :  this  Belial  shall 
pass  through  thy  land  no  more  :  he  is  utterly  cut  off!  " 


NAHUM.— CIIAP.  II.  229 

As  to  keeping  those  solemn  feasts,  Judah  could,  for  no  enemy 
remained  in  Iter  land  to  prevent :  she  should,  for  never  before  were 
there  such  themes  for  praise,  such  reasons  for  coming  to  the  house 
of  God  with  her  thank-offerings  to  pay  her  solemn  vows. 


CHAPTER    II. 

This  chapter  brings  us  at  once  to  the  prophet's  great  theme — the 
burden  of  Nineveh.  The  mad  and  proud  invasion  of  Judah  by 
Sennacherib  must  first  be  noticed,  that  being  the  antecedent 
occasion  of  this  final  overthrow — the  great  sin  of  which  this  fall 
was  the  signal  retribution.  That  consequently  is  spoken  of  in  the 
first  chapter.  This  chapter  -and  the  third  give  us  the  assault  on  an- 
cient Nineveh,  and  her  final  fall. 

1.  He  that  daslietli  in  pieces  is  come  up  before  thy 
face  :  keep  the  munition,  watch  the  way,  make  thy  loins 
strong,  fortify  thy  power  mightily. 

Instead  of  finding  in  this  first  verse  a  summons  to  Hezekiah  to 
prepare  his  capital  for  defence  against  Sennacherib  (as  some  have 
done),  I  prefer  to  apply  it  (as  manifestly  vs.  3-13  must  be  ap- 
plied) to  the  Assyrian  king  Chynilidan,  in  whose  reign  the  combined 
forces  of  the  Medes  and  Chaldeans  came  up  against  great  Nineveh, 
and  laid  it  in  ruins.  With  this  construction,  v.  2  is  interposed  as  a 
reason  for  God's  overthrowing  Nineveh — good,  although  the  event 
occurred  more  than  half  a  century  before.     Then  v.  3  resumes 

and  carries  forward  the  thought  of  v.  1. Moreover,  Sennacherib 

has  been  effectually  disposed  of  in  chapter  1,  tumbled  into  his 
dishonored  grave,  and  his  name  given  over  to  contempt  and  oblivion. 
It  is  not  meet  to  raise  him  from  his  grave,  to  appear  again  on  the 

face   of  this  chapter. Nineveh  and  her  kings  are  addressed. 

Nineveh  had  been  in  her  day  a  conquering  power,  dashing  nations 
and  their  strong  cities  to  atoms.  Now,  another  great  "  hammer  of 
the  nations  "  is  raised  up  of  God,  and  appears  at  her  gates,  and  the 
prophet  tauntingly  admonishes  her  to  look  well  to  her  fortifications ; 
to  set  watchmen  along  the  ways  leading  to  the  city ;  to  gird  her 
loins  for  strife,  and  fortify  to  the  utmost. 

2.  For  the  Lord  hath  turned  away  the  excellency  of 
Jacob,  as  the  excellency  of  Israel :  for  the  emptiers 
have  emptied  them  out,  and  marred  their  vine-branches. 

Why?  "  Because  the  Lord  hath"  (not  turned  away,  but)  "re- 
stored the  glory  of  Jacob  as  the  glory  of  Israel,  although  the 
'  emptiers '  (her  foreign  enemies)  had  (almost)  emptied  the  land  of 
her  population,  and  marred  their  vine-branches."  This  language 
implies  that  Judah  had  suffered  sorely  from  her  enemies,  both  in 


230  NAHUM.— CHAP.  II. 

the  waste  of  precious  life,  and  in  the  damage  done  her  vines,  and  of 
course  other  vegetable  growths  as  well.  The  same  facts  are  indi- 
cated by  Isaiah  of  this  very  time :  "  And  the  remnant  that  is  es- 
caped of  the  house  of  Judah  shall  again  take  root  downward,"  &c. 
"From  out  of  Jerusalem  shall  go  forth  a  remnant,"  &c,  showing 
that  many  must  have  perished  (see  Isa.  37 :  31,  32).  V.  30  shows 
that  cultivation  had  been  entirely  neglected  during  two  full  years. 

The  -word  rendered  "  excellency  "  is  sometimes  (e.  g.,  Amos 

G :  8  and  Ps.  47 :  4)  applied  to  the  land  of  Palestine,  as  being  the 
"  glory  of  all  lands."  So  here,  with  the  accessory  idea  of  the  land 
in  its  state  of  prosperity  and  glory.  Jacob  and  Israel  are  here,  not 
each  the  name  of  a  distinct  people,  but  both  the  name  of  one.  With 
tacit  allusion  to  the  change  of  Jacob's  name  to  Israel  (Gen. 
32  :  27,  28),  the  Lord  is  said  to  restore  the  glory  of  Jacob  as  being 
the  people  who  have  a  princely  power  with  God,  and  are  recognized 
by  him  as  his  covenant  people.  Jacob  and  Israel  are  never  the  dis- 
tinctive names  of  the  two  kingdoms.  Here  God  blesses  Jacob,  as 
if  in  remembrance  of  what  his  other  name,  Israel,  implies. 

3.  The  shield  of  his  mighty  men  is  made  red,  the 
valiant  men  are  in  scarlet:  the  chariots  shall  he  with 
naming  torches  in  the  day  of  his  preparation,  and  the  fir- 
trees  shall  be  terribly  shaken. 

4.  The  chariots  shall  rage  in  the  streets,  they  shall 
justle  one  against  another  in  the  broad  ways:  they 
shall  seem  like  torches,  they  shall  run  like  the  light- 
nings. 

This  description,  given  by  the  prophet,  of  the  approaching  hosts 
of  Media  and  Chaldea,  is,  like  all  his  descriptive  paragraphs,  full  of 

fire,  painting  to  the  eye  most  vividly. ''The  shields  of  his  mighty 

men  are  reddened ;  his  heroes  are  in  scarlet ;  his  chariots  flash  with 
the  brightness  of  their  iron  scythes,  as  in  the  day  of  their  prepara- 
tion (L  e.,  when  new) ;  the  spears  of  cypress  also  wave  on  high.  The 
chariots  dash  madly  in  the  streets;  they  run  to  and  fro  in  the 
open  grounds;  they  look  like  lamps  of  fire;  they  dart  like  the 
lightning." 

5.  lie  shall  recount  his  worthies:  they  shall  stumble 
in  their  walk  ;  they  shall  make  haste  to  the  wall  thereof, 
and  the  defence  shall  be  prepared. 

Here  the  king  of  Nineveh  is  seen  starting  up  as  from  a  reverie 
or  a  sleep,  to  begin  to  appreciate  his  danger.  He  sees  the  fearful 
onslaught  of  converging  hosts  upon  his  capital.  Now,  "  he  thinks 
of  his  generals,"  and  summons  them  to  their  work ;  they  start  off  in 
haste,  or  in  panic,  and  "  stumble  in  their  goings;  "  they  make  haste 
to  the  city  wall,"  where  their  soldiers  and  military  defences  were 
located  for  the  protection  of  the  city,  "and  the  breastworks  are 
made  firm."   Breastworks  is  rather  the  modern  phrase.    This  was  a 


NAHUM.— CHAP.  II.  231 

mantlet,  apparently  of  interwoven  boughs,  to  protect  their  heads  as 

well  as  breasts  from  the  missiles  of  ancient  warfare. According 

to  Diodorus  Siculus,  Nineveh  had  fifteen  hundred  towers,  dis- 
tributed around  on  her  city  walls.  These  mantlets  may  have  been 
located  in  the  intervening  spaces. 

6.  The  gates  of  the  rivers  shall  be  opened,  and  the 
palace  shall  be  dissolved. 

7.  And  Huzzab  shall  be  led  away  captive,  she  shall 
be  brought  up,  and  her  maids  shall  lead  her  as  with  the 
voice  of  doves,  tabering  upon  their  breasts. 

"The  gates  of  her  water-courses  are  burst  open,  and  the  palace 
is  swept  away."  Nineveh  stood  upon  the  Tigris,  on  low  ground. 
These  "rivers  "  were  her  artificial  canals  for  letting  in  their  supply 
of  water  for  irrigation  and  for  other  uses.  Now,  burst  open  by  the 
besiegers,   the  palace,  and   consequently  much  of  the  city,  was 

inundated. The  word  rendered  "Huzzab"  has  been  variously 

interpreted,  as  the  margin  indicates.  All  modern  critics  agree  in 
making  the  word  a  verb,  and  not,  as  in  the  English  version,  a  proper 
noun. The  reader  may  choose  among  the  following  construc- 
tions, the  first  of  which  disregards  the  usual  division  of  verses  : 

(1.)  (v.  6).  "  The  palace  is  dissolved,  though  firmly  established." 
(v.  7).  '•'  She  is  made  bare  ;  she  is  carried  up,"  &c. 

(2.)  (v.  7).  "  It  is  settled!  (i.  e.,  decreed  and  done !)  she  is  led  off 
into  captivity,"  &c. 

(3.)  (v.  6).  "  And  the  palace  is  dissolved,  (v.  7.)  "  Though  it  (the 
palace)  was  firmly  founded,  yet  is  she  (the  city)  led  into  captivity ; 
she  is  borne  away  (as  a  captive  queen) ;  her  maids  are  leading  her 
as  with  the  voice  of  doves,  smiting  (drumming)  upon  their  breasts." 
This  choice  between  various  constructions  involves  no  doc- 
trinal truth  of  special  importance.  The  last  interpretation,  requir- 
ing no  change  in  the  Hebrew  accents,  and  otherwise  meeting  both 
the  exigencies  of  the  context  and  the  established  usage  of  the  indi- 
vidual words,  has  slightly  my  preference. 

8.  But  Mneveh  is  of  old  like  a  pool  of  water  :  yet 
they  shall  flee  away.  Stand,  stand,  shall  they  cry,  but 
none  shall  look  back. 

"  Though  Nineveh  has  been  since  her  early  days  as  a  reservoir 
of  waters  " — a  point  for  the  confluence  of  people  from  every  clime 
and  kingdom,  "yet  now  are  they  fleeing."  "Stand!  stand!  but 
there  is  no  turning  them  back."  This  translation  imitates  the 
terseness  and  gives  the  sense  of  the  original. All  great  com- 
mercial centres,  like  the  London  and  New  York  of  our  times,  will 
have  a  population  gathered  from  the  whole  civilized  world.  The 
exigencies  of  business  and  trade  produce  this  result. Our  pas- 
sage touches  graphically  the  effect  of  a  panic  on  such  a  population. 
The  masses  have  but  one  impulse — to  run.     The  authorities,  who 


232 


NAHUM.— CHAP.  II. 


would  fain  save  the  city,  shout,  "Stand!  stand!  "  but  the  call  ia 
powerless  ;  it  turns  no  one  back. 

9.  Take  ye  the  spoil  of  silver,  take  the  spoil  of 
gold  ;  for  there  is  none  end  of  the  store  and  glory  out  of 
all  the  pleasant  furniture. 

The  prophet  turns  for  a  word  to  the  conquerors,  who  are 
thought  of  now  as  within  the  city.  "  Seize  the  silver ;  seize  the 
gold ;  there  is  no  end  to  her  stores  "  (i.  e.,  of  carefully  prepared  and 
curiously  wrought  furniture,  equipage,  &c.) — a  huge  mass  of  all 
beautiful  things."     There  is  no  other  word  but  "  things  "  so  nearly 

equivalent  to  the  Hebrew  in    comprehensiveness. The   great 

wealth  of  Nineveh  now  lies  at  the  mercy  of  her  conquerors. 

10.  She  is  empty  and  void,  and  waste :  and  the 
heart  melteth,  and  the  knees  smite  together,  and  much 
pain  is  in  all  loins,  and  the  faces  of  them  all  gather 
blackness. 

The  first  three  adjectives  aim  to  intensify  the  idea  of  utter  empti- 
ness, as  if  Nineveh  had  been  a  huge  and  full  bottle,  now  inverted, 

and  the  contents  gurgle  and  gush  out  to  the  last  drop. "  Hearts 

melt ;  there  is  shaking  of  knees  and  keen  pangs  in  all  loins  ;  all  faces 
lose  their  cheerful  glow" — contract  and  seem  to  draw  in  their 
brightness.     This  seems  to  be  the  exact  sense  of  the  Hebrew. 

11.  Where  is  the  dwelling  of  the  lions,  and  the  feed- 
ing-place of  the  young  lions,  where  the  lion,  even  the  old 
lion,  walked,  and  the  lion's  whelp,  and  none  made  them 
afraid  ? 

12.  The  lion  did  tear  in  pieces  enough  for  his  whelps, 
and  strangled  for  his  lionesses,  and  filled  his  holes  with 
prey,  and  his  dens  with  ravin. 

13.  Behold,  I  am  against  thee,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
and  I  will  burn  her  chariots  in  the  smoke,  and  the  sword 
shall  devour  thy  young  lions :  and  I  will  cut  off  thy 
prey  from  the  earth,  and  the  voice  of  thy  messengers 
shall  no  more  be  heard. 

Nineveh  is  here  thought  of  as  an  old  lion's  den.  This  figure  is 
the  more  pertinent  because  the  ancient  Assyrians  (like  the  modern 
British)  chose  the  lion  for  their  national  symbol.  This  figure  conse- 
quently is  prominent  in  the  ruins  of  ancient  Nineveh  (see  Layard's 
"  Nineveh,"  pp.  32,  47,  85,  88,  &c.)     Hence  the  prophet  exultingly 

asks,  Where  is  the  old  den  now  ? In  the  last  verse  the  figure  is 

half  dropped  and  half  retained.  "Burning  her  chariots  in  the 
smoke,"  drops  the  figure  ;  "the  sword  devouring  her  young  lions. 


NAHUM.— CHAP.  III.  233 

and  cutting  off  his  prey  from  the  earth,"  mostly  retains  it. "  The 

voice  of  her  messengers  "  is  that  of  her  ambassadors,  who  repre- 
sented her  power  in  distant  countries,  with  perhaps  a  tacit  allusion 
to  the  taunting  speech  of  her  Rabshakeh  to  the  Jewish  people  on 
the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  as  in  Isa.  36  :  4r-20.     Such  a  voice  as  this 

shall  he  heard  no  more. The  immediate  cause  of  her  ruin  is 

presented  forcibly  :  "  Behold,  I  am  against  thee,  saith  Jehovah  of 

hosts." Not  the  proudest  or  the  mightest  of  cities  can  stand 

when  the  great  Jehovah  is  against  her. 


CHAPTER   III. 

The  same  subject — the  fall  of  Nineveh — is  resumed  and  con- 
cluded. 

1.  "Woe  to  the  bloody  city !  it  is  all  full  of  lies  and 
robbery ;   the  prey  departeth  not ; 

First  come  the  moral  causes  of  this  fearful  desolation.  It  is  a 
city  of  blood  ;  "all  full  of  lies  " — no  truth  between  man  and  man ; 
and  thence  come,  by  natural  result,  violence  and  robbery.  The 
seizing  of  prey,  by  the  strong  from  the  weaker,  never  ceases.  The 
original  words  suggest  that  men,  created  rational  and  moral,  have 
become  fierce  and  savage  as  beasts  of  prey. 

2.  The  noise  of  a  whip,  and  the  noise  of  the  rattling 
of  the  wheels,  and  of  the  prancing  horses,  and  of  the 
jumping  chariots. 

3.  The  horseman  liftetli  up  both  the  bright  sword 
and  the  glittering  spear :  and  there  is  a  multitude  of 
slain,  and  a  great  number  of  carcasses  ;  and  there  is  none 
end  of  their  corpses  ;  they  stumble  upon  their  corpses  : 

These  verses  resume  the  account  of  the  siege  and  assault,  con- 
tinued from  2 :  3-5,  9,  10 :  "  The  crack  of  the  whip  ;  the  noise  of 
rattling  wheels,  prancing  horses,  bounding  chariots.  There  are 
horsemen  mounting;  flashing  swords,  the  lightnings  of  the  spear; 
heaps  of  slain,  masses  of  the  dead,  and  no  end  to  the  corpses;  men 
stumble  over  their  dead  bodies."  Think  of  it,  and  note  how  it  looks 
— this  onslaught  of  warriors  through  the  crowded  streets  of  help- 
less Nineveh,  leaving  traces  of  their  work  in  the  heaps  of  her  man- 
gled dead! One  of  the  marvels  is,  that  the  pen  of  prophecy 

should  paint  such  a  life-scene  with  no  less  vividness  and  force  than 
the  ablest  historic  pen.  Surely  we  must  see  in  this  the  impress  of 
God's  own  finger ! 

4.  Because  of  the  multitude  of  the  whoredoms  of 
the  well-favored  harlot,  the  mistress  of  witchcrafts,  that 


234  NAHUM.— CHAP.  HI. 

selleth  nations  through  her  whoredoms,  and  families 
through  her  witchcrafts. 

Again  the  prophet  recurs  to  the  moral  causes  of  this  appalling 

slaughter.  There  had  been  sin  no  less  appalling! If  these  terms 

that  usually  denote  lewdness,  referred  to  Israel  and  Judah,  it  would  he 
legitimate  to  give  them  the  sense  of  idolatry — this  usage  being  well 
established  with  reference  to  the  covenant  people.  In  this  passage 
the  same  usage  may  be  inferred  from  the  connection  of  whoredom 
with  witchcraft.  Hence,  under  this  figure  of  a  lewd  harlot,  the 
prophet  really  means  idolatry  and  its  monstrous  brood  of  supersti- 
tions, witchcrafts,  and  doubtless  licentiousness  as  well.  Through 
the  influence  wielded  by  her  world-wide  commerce,  Nineveh  had 
corrupted  all  the  nations  round  about.  It  was,  therefore,  only  a 
fit  retribution  that  her  fall  should  be  a  public  disgrace  before 
them  all. 

5.  Behold,  I  am  against  thee,  saith  the  Loud  of  hosts ; 
and  I  will  discover  thy  skirts  upon  thy  face,  and  I  will 
shew  the  nations  thy  nakedness,  and  the  kingdoms 
thy  shame. 

6.  And  I  will  cast  abominable  filth  upon  thee,  and 
make  thee  vile,  and  will  set  thee  as  a  gazing-stock. 

This  is  her  doom  of  shame.     The  figure  of  a  harlot  is  kept  up 

throughout  these  two  verses. a  Discover  " — not  in  the  modern 

sense,  to  find  l>y  search,  but  in  the  ancient  one,  to  expose  to  public 
view,  and  here  to  public  scorn.  God  will  expose  her  nakedness 
before  all  the  nations ;  and  then,  to  make  her  shame  the  greater, 
will  cast  abominable  filth  upon  her  naked  person. 

Y.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  all  they  that  look 
upon  thee  shall  flee  from  thee,  and  say,  Nineveh  is  laid 
waste :  who  will  bemoan  her  \  whence  shall  I  seek  com- 
forters for  thee  ? 

None  can  bear  the  horrid  sight.  Her  old  associates  flee  away, 
and  no  one  cares  to  pause,  to  bewail  her  doom. 

8.  Art  thou  better  than  populous  No,  that  was  situate 
among  the  rivers,  that  had  the  waters  round  about  it, 
whose  rampart  was  the  sea,  and  her  wall  was  from  the 
sea? 

9.  Ethiopia  and  Egypt  were  her  strength,  and  it  was 
infinite  ;  Put  and  Lubim  were  thy  helpers. 

When  Nahum  wrote,  Nineveh  was  still  in  her  glory.  Her  peo- 
ple felt  as  secure  from  this  or  any  other  destruction  as  the  people 
of  London,  Paris,  or  New  York,  to-day.  It  was  to  meet  such  a  feel- 
ing of  security  that  the  prophet  calls  their  attention  to  No,  the  great 


NAHUM.— CHAP.   III.  235 

city  known  as  Thebes  and  Diospolis,  the  capital  of  Upper  Egypt — 
which,  from  a  state  of  unrivalled  splendor,  wealth,  and  greatness, 

had  been  suddenly  laid  in  ruins. "  Art  thou  better,"  i.  e.,  stronger 

and  more  safe,  "  than  No-Amon  ?  "  The  word  rendered  "  populous  " 
should  be  taken  as  part  of  the  proper  name  of  the  city.  "  No- 
Amon,"  called  only  "Jo,"  Ezek.  30:  14-16,  and  Jer.  46:  25, 
but  more  often  in  Egyptian  history,  "Thebes,"  stood  on  both  sides 
of  the  Nile — a  most  magnificent  city,  the  ruins  of  whose  temples 
and  tombs  are  at  this  day  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world.  This 
city  is  supposed  to  have  fallen  under  the  assault  of  Sargon,  king  of 
Assyria,  of  whom  Isaiah  20  speaks. — See  introduction  to  Nahum. 
Thebes  had  powerful  allies.  Being  the  centre  of  trade,  busi- 
ness, and  religion  for  all  Upper  Egypt,  and  probably  for  Ethiopia 
also,  she  had  their  aid,  and  the  prophet  says  this  was  without  limit. 
Lubim  was  the  Hebrew  form  of  the  name  Libyans,  and  Put  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  part  of  their  extensive  country — the  whole 
lying  on  the  west  of  Egypt. 

10.  Yet  was  she  carried  away,  she  went  into  captiv- 
ity :  her  young  children  also  were  dashed  in  pieces  at 
the  top  of  all  the  streets :  and  they  cast  lots  for  her 
honorable  men,  and  all  her  great  men  were  bound  in 
chains. 

"  Yet  she  became  an  exile,"  &c.  The  verse  sketches  the  usual 
fate  of  a  conquered  people  in  that  almost  savage  state  of  the  world. 

If  such  had  become  the  doom  of  Thebes,  ought  not  Nineveh 

also  to  fear  ? 

11.  Thou  also  shalt  be  drunken :  thou  shalt  be  hid, 
thou  also  shalt  seek  strength  because  of  the  enemy. 

Nineveh  also  as  well  as  Thebes  should  "  be  drunken  " — should 
take  the  wine-cup  of  Jehovah's  wrath  and  drink  her  death-doom. 

See  notes  on  Nahum,  1 :  10. "Thou  shalt  be  hid,"  means  shall 

be  lost  to  public  view — obliterated  and  forgotten ;  dropped  from  the 

knowledge  of  the  human  race. How  wonderfully  has  this  been 

true  of  old  Nineveh  for  twenty-five  centuries !  Until  the  present 
generation,  ages  have  passed  over  her  ruins,  and  no  living  man  knew 
the  site  where  once  she  sat  so  proudly  and  sinned  so  fearfully !  The 
Arab  rode  his  steed  high  above  her  fallen  towers  and  crumbled  walls, 
all  unconscious  how  much  human  greatness  lay  dead  and  forgotten 

beneath  his  feet ! "  Shall  seek  strength."     The  Hebrew  properly 

means  a  stronghold — a  place  of  safety  against  the  enemy.  To  this 
they  should  be  subjected,  despite  of  their  lofty  walls  and  almost 
countless  towers.  So  understood,  the  course  of  thought  is  continued 
into  the  next  verse. 

12.  All  thy  strong  holds  shall  he  like  fig-trees  with 
the  first  ripe  figs  :  if  they  be  shaken,  they  shall  even  fall 
into  the  mouth  of  the  eater. 


236 


NAHUM.— CHAP.  III. 


13.  Behold,  thy  people  in  the  midst  of  thee  art 
women :  the  gates  of  thy  land  shall  be  set  wide  open 
unto  thine  enemies  :  the  fire  shall  devour  thy  bars. 

By  a  most  significant  figure,  the  prophet  shows  that  her  military 
strength  was  of  small  account — rather  a  temptation  to  an  assault 
than  a  defence  against  it.  Nineveh  had  become  too  rich,  and  too 
luxurious  and  effeminate,  to  stand  against  the  plundering  robber- 
hordes  of  younger  and  more  vigorous  races.  Her  warriors  had  be- 
come as  women. -The  "bars"  which  the  fire  shall  devour,  are 

those  of  her  gates. 

14.  Draw  the  waters  for  the  siege,  fortify  thy  strong 
holds  :  go  into  clay,  and  tread  the  mortar,  make  strong 
the  brick-kiln. 

Tauntingly  the  prophet  commends  to  her  a  little  more  labor  on 
her  fortifications — advice  the  more  in  point,  because  Nineveh  had 
already  expended  an  untold  amount  of  wealth  and  labor  upon  this 
very  thing,  and  also  because  she  was  so  sure  her  walls  were  impreg- 
nable, and  because  they  were,  after  all,  of  so  very  small  account  as 
against  her  enemies.  The  irony  was  put  on  for  an  edge,  to  make  the 
truth  cut. 

15.  There  shall  the  fire  devour  thee  ;  the  sword  shall 
cut  thee  off,  it  shall  eat  thee  up  like  the  canker-worm : 
make  thyself  many  as  the  canker-worm,  make  thyself 
many  as  the  locusts. 

Even  there  in  thy  brick-kilns  and  mortar-beds,  the  fire  of  Jeho- 
vah's retribution  will  find  thee  out  and  devour  thee.  It  shall  eat 
thee,  as  the  canker  worm  (a  species  of  locust)  eats  the  herbage  of 

the  land. Then  the  locust  having  been  suggested  to  his  mind  as 

a  figure  of  devastation,  he  seizes  it  as  a  figure  for  a  multitude,  and 
says — "  Make  thyself  a  countless  host  like  the  locusts,  yet  shall  the 
fire  and  sword  of  the  Almighty  consume  thee." 

16.  Thou  hast  multiplied  thy  merchants  above  the 
stars  of  heaven :  the  canker-worm  spoileth,  and  flieth 
away. 

She  had  enjoyed  an  immense  commerce  with  India  on  the  east, 
and  with  all  western  Asia  and  northeastern  Africa  on  the  west. 
The  wealth  of  those  valleys  of  the  Euphrates  and  the  Tigris  was  also 
immense ;  but  the  prophet  quietly  suggests  that  the  locust  pillages 
and  then  flies  away.  So  would  her  great  wealth  vanish  before  the 
hosts  of  her  foes. 

IT.  Thy  crowned  are  as  the  locusts,  and  thy  captains 
as  the  great  grasshoppers,  which  camp  in  the  hedges  in 
the  cold  day,  but  when  the  sun  ariseth  they  flee  away, 
and  their  place  is  not  known  where  they  a7*e. 


NAHUM.— CHAP.  III.  237 

"  Thy  crowned "  are  her  princes,  of  whom  Sennacherib  said, 

"Are  not  my  princes  altogether  kings?  " The  original  rendered 

"captains"  is  an  Assyrian  word,  meaning  satraps,  governors.  They 
will  disappear  as  the  grasshoppers,  who  lie  close  under  the  wall 
during  the  cool  of  the  day,  but  when  the  sun  rises  flee  away,  and 
their  very  place  is  unknown.  So  these  high  officers  on  whom  he 
had  so  much  relied,  would  fail  him  and  disappoint  his  expectations. 
Nahum  2 :  5  represents  the  king,  when  first  aroused  to  his  danger, 
as  thinking  of  these  officers — to  how  little  purpose  may  be  seen- 
here. 

18.  Thy  shepherds  slumber,  O  king  of  Assyria: 
thy  nobles  shall  dwell  in  the  dust :  thy  people  is  scat- 
tered upon  the  mountains,  and  no  man  gathereth  them. 

"  Thy  shepherds  "  must  mean,  in  this  connection,  his  viceroys — 
officers  in  charge  of  his  provinces.  They  are  in  a  deep  sleep,  in- 
active, overcome  with  sloth — as  a  real  shepherd  might  be.  "  Thy 
nobles  have  sat  down  " — as  if  in  utter  unconcern  for  the  peril  of 
Nineveh.  Thus,  nobles  and  people  alike  fail  him  in  the  hour  of 
his  extremity. 

19.  There  is  no  healing  of  thy  bruise ;  thy  wound  is 

frievous  :  all  that  hear  the  bruit  of  thee  shall  clap  the 
ands  over  thee :  for  upon  whom  hath  not  thy  wicked- 
ness passed  continually  ? 

The  nearly  obsolete  word  "  "bruit "  means  report  concerning  thee 
— the  news  of  thy  fall.  The  world  was  ready  to  rejoice  over  her 
righteous  doom ;  for  where  could  a  tribe  be  found  that  had  not  felt 
the  galling  of  her  yoke — the  infliction  of  some  wrong  from  her 

overbearing  power? So  the  prophet  leaves  proud  Nineveh  to 

her  righteous  yet  fearful  doom!  Considering  this  prophecy  as 
written  and  sent  forth  to  the  world  almost  a  century  before  the 
final  catastrophe,  it  was  a  standing  admonition  to  the  king  and 
people  of  Nineveh  to  prepare  to  meet  God  in  the  judgments  of  his 
wrath.  Considered  in  its  relations  to  God's  people  in  the  reign  of 
Hezekiah,  it  was  admirably  adapted  to  secure  a  right  moral  impres- 
sion from  the  overthrow  of  Sennacherib's  army,  and  to  make  the 
people  feel  that,  with  God  on  their  side,  they  need  not  fear  the 
mightiest  or  proudest  of  their  foes. 


HABAKKUK 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  introduction  to  this  short  book  gives  nothing  but  the  wri- 
ter's name.  He  leaves  the  reader  to  ascertain  from  the  book  itself 
the  time  when,  the  place  where,  and  the  theme  of  which  he  wrote. 
These  points  may  be  ascertained  with  a  good  degree  of  definiteness 
and  certainty  in  the  first  chapter,  especially  vs.  5-11.  These  verses 
show  that  the  Chaldean  power  is  now  for  the  first  time  coming  up 
to  view  as  a  desolating  scourge  on  Judah.  They  were  to  do  a  work 
which  men  would  not  readily  believe  (v.  5),  indicating  that  they 
had  scarcely  been  known  as  a  dangerous  power  before.  The 
minute  description  of  their  character  and  ways  (vs.  6-11)  bears 
toward  the  same  result,  showing  that  previously  they  had  been  but 

little  known. Hence  this  must  have  been  their  first  invasion. 

It  was  very  near  at  hand  when  Habakkuk  wrote.  The  invasion 
occurred  in  the  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim,  whose  reign  of  eleven 
years  was  b.  c.  611-000.  It  has  been  usual  to  date  this  invasion 
b.  c.  600.  Habakkuk's  writing  must  be  located  somewhat  (perhaps 
a  few  years)  earlier.  The  desolation  and  famine  which  he  contem- 
plates (3  :  17)  and  which  his  exalted  faith  enabled  him  to  triumph 
over,  came  with  this  sweep  of  a  conquering,  cruel  enemy,  probably 
not  long  after  the  publication  of  this  wonderful  book. ^Habak- 
kuk was  contemporary  with  Jeremiah,  who  began  to  prophesy  in 
the  thirteenth  year  of  Josiah,  and  continued  down  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  city  and  the  last  deportation  of  captives  in  the  eleventh 
year  of  Zedekiah,  a  range  of  some  forty  years.  Near  the  middle 
of  this  period  fell  the  first  invasion  by  the  Chaldeans  in  the  fourth 


IIABAKKUK.— CHAP.  I.  239 

year  of  Jehoiakim.  From  Jeremiah,  therefore,  we  may  learn  much 
respecting  the  general  and  moral  condition  of  the  people  when 

Ilabakkuk  wrote. One  leading  course  of  thought  runs  through 

the  entire  hook :  the  sins  of  the  covenant  people ;  God's  raising  up 
the  Chaldeans  to  scourge  them  therefor ;  the  prophet's  expostula- 
tion with  the  Lord  against  permitting  a  people  so  cruel  and  wicked 
as  they  to  afflict  and  destroy  Judah ;  the  Lord's  answer  touching 
the  Chaldeans ;  closing  with  the  prophet's  prayer  that  God  would 
reenact  the  glorious  scenes  of  deliverance  that  appear  on  so  many 
pages  of  the  nation's  early  history ;  and  God's  virtual  reply,  by  caus- 
ing his  glory  to  pass  before  the  prophet's  eye,  thus  impressing  his 
soul  with  a  sense  of  his  power  .to  save,  and  of  his  faithfulness  and 
love  as  well.  In  view  of  these  manifestations,  the  prophet  exults 
in  Jehovah  alone,  satisfied  that  under  the  wing  and  in  the  love  of 
such  a  God  he  has  nothing  to  fear,  but  every  reason  for  joyful  trust 

and  triumph. In  point  of  style,  Habakkuk   stands  unrivalled. 

"Who  can  name  the  writer  that  excels  him  in  the  best  qualities  of  a 
poetic  imagination,  and  especially  in  his  grand  and  sublime  con- 
ceptions of  Jehovah  ? 


CHAPTER  I. 

Tiie  prophet,  distressed  by  the  appalling  prevalence  of  wicked- 
ness among  his  people,  cries  to  God  for  help  (vs.  2-4) ;  the  Lord 
replies  that  he  is  raising  up  the  Chaldeans  to  scourge  them,  and 
describes  that  people  (vs.  5-11),  against  which  the  prophet  expos- 
tulates with  God  (vs.  12-17). 

1.  The  burden  which  Habakkuk  the  prophet  did  see. 
"  Burden  "  is  here,  as  usual,  a  prophetic  message  of  such  sort 

as  bears  heavily  on  the  prophet's  heart. 

2.  O  Lord,  how  long  shall  I  cry,  and  thou  wilt  not 
hear !  even  cry  out  unto  thee  of  violence,  and  thou  wilt 
not  save ! 

3.  Why  dost  thou  shew  me  iniquity,  and  cause  one 
to  behold  grievance  ?  for  spoiling  and  violence  are  before 
me :  and  there  are  that  raise  up  strife  and  contention. 

4.  Therefore,  the  law  is  slacked,  and  judgment  doth 
never  go  forth :  for  the  wicked  doth  compass  about  the 
righteous ;  therefore  wrong  judgment  proceedeth. 

A  preliminary  question  arises  here  as  to  the  general  scope  of 


240  HABAKKUK.— CHAP.   I. 

these  verses.  Some  suppose  they  describe  the  effects  of  the  Chal- 
dean invasion — the  demoralization  and  oppression  which  they  pro- 
duced ;  others,  that  they  present  the  state  of  morals  and  of  the 
public  life  of  the  Jewish  nation  shortly  before  that  invasion.  I 
hold  the  latter  view  decidedly,  for  the  following  reasons  :  (1.)  Be- 
cause the  prophets  were  accustomed  to  record  the  sins  for  which 
God  judges  and  punishes  his  people,  before  they  record  the  punish- 
ment itself.  This  is  their  established  usage,  and  is,  moreover,  de- 
manded by  moral  considerations,  it  being  necessary  for  the  best 
moral  results  that  not  only  the  punished  but  the  world  should  know 
why  God  punishes. (2.)  In  v.  5  the  prophet  manifestly  intro- 
duces the  Chaldean  power  for  the  first  time  to  the  reader's  notice. 
It  was  obviously  unthought  of  before.  That  this  must  be  true  will 
be  readily  seen  by  supposing  the  other  theory  (the  first  above 
named)  to  be  true.  On  this  supposition  the  prophet  (vs.  2-4)  would 
be  made  to  say — O  Lord,  how  long -shall  I  cry  out  to  thee  of  the 
mischiefs  wrought  by  those  Chaldean  savages,  and  thou  wilt  not 
hear?     See  how  they  have  broken  down  the  public  morals,  and 

made  justice  between  man  and  man  a  mockery ! To  which  (by 

the  supposition)  the  Lord  replies:  "Let  all  the  heathen  take  notice 
of  it  and  marvel  exceedingly,  for  I  am  about  to  do  a  strange  and 
almost  incredible  thing."     And  what  is  it?     "I  am  raising  up  the 

Chaldeans!" "Ah,  Lord  God,"  the  prophet  might  reply,  "we 

have  had  them  upon  us  a  long  time !     They  are  the  very  mischief 

that  I  complain  of,"  &c. Such  a  construction  of  the  passage  is 

utterly  inadmissible. (3.)  The  description  (vs.  2-4)  corresponds  to 

the  moral  and  social  state  of  Judah  under  the  reign  of  Jehoiakim, 
and  also  of  Zedekiah.  See  Jer.  22,  and  2  Chron.  36.  The  public 
morals  were  utterly  prostrate,  and  wickedness  in  all  forms  was 
rampant.  (4.)  On  the  other  hand,  the  state  of  the  country  does 
not  correspond  with  the  results  of  the  Chaldean  invasion.  The  lat- 
ter are  indicated  in  3  :  17. Hence  in  vs.  2-4  I  understand  the 

prophet  to  speak  of  the  state  of  society  in  Judah  before  the  Chal- 
deans were  thought  of. V.  2  seems  to  imply  that  the  prophet 

had  been  for  some  time  in  his  prophetic  work,  laboring  among  a 
degenerate  people,  battling  against  sin,  and  almost  impatient  that 
the  Lord  did  not  interpose  to  convert,  or  chastise,  or  exterminate. 
Jer.  22  shows  that  the  people  were  then  horribly  corrupt,  and  that 
their  king  Jehoiakim  was  the  weakest,  meanest,  and  wickedest 
king  that  had  ever  disgraced  their  throne. V.  3  is  literally  ren- 
dered thus  :  "  Why  dost  thou  cause  me  to  behold  iniquity,  and  why 
dost  thou  look  (unconcerned)  upon  human  misery?  Destruction 
and  violence  are  before  me  ;  there  is  strife,  and  men  excite  conten-  • 
tion."  The  second  clause  does  not  well  admit  the  sense — Why  dost 
thou  make  me  leTiold?  The  implied  expostulation  with  God  is 
stronger — Why  dost  thou  thyself  look  on  this  woe  with  no  effort 
to  relieve  or  prevent?  The  sense  of  v.  4  is  not  obscure :  "  There- 
fore," under  the  influence  of  almost  universal  violence  and  strife, 
law  becomes  frigid,  cold  as  if  near  death ;  right  judgment  is  never 


IIABAKKITK.— CHAP.  I.  241 

issued  by  the  courts  of  law ;  the  wicked  circumvent  the  righteous, 
and  always  secure  unjust  decisions. 

5.  Behold  ye  among  the  heathen,  and  regard,  and 
wonder  marvellously:  for  I  will  work  a  work  in  your 
days,  which  ye  will  not  believe  though  it  be  told  you. 

Here  the  Chaldeans  are  brought  first  to  our  notice.  Indeed,  it 
would  seem  that  they  were  brought  by  this  prophecy  to  the  notice 
of  the  Jews  as  a  dangerous  power,  they  having  previously  neglected 
to  observe  the  sudden  rise  and  rapid  growth  of  this  new  power 
among  the  nations.  The  Lord  says,  "  Look  abroad,  consider  atten- 
tively, and  you  will  have  occasion  to  wonder  exceedingly,"  the  last 
imperative  in  a  series  of  two  or  more  being  usually  in  sense  a  fu- 
ture. God  will  do  a  work  which  will  seem  incredible,  even  though 
sustained  by  good  testimony. 

6.  For  lo,  I  raise  up  the  Chaldeans,  that  bitter  and 
hasty  nation,  which  shall  march  through  the  breadth  of 
the  land,  to  possess  the  dwelling-places  that  are  not 
theirs. 

This  is  the  work,  the  raising  up  of  a  new  first-class  power,  the 
Chaldeans.  By  taking  notice  of  recent  events,  the  Jews  might  see 
the  rise  of  this  power.  The  Chaldean  king  iiabopolassar,  aided  by 
the  Medes,  had  overthrown  Nineveh  (b.  o.  G25),  as  Nahum  had 
foretold.  The  Egyptians,  alarmed  at.  their  growth,  came  against 
them,  but  were  badly  beaten  at  Carchemish,  on  the  Euphrates. 
Thenceforward  no  nation  was  able  to  stay  their  progress.  The 
Jews,  moreover,  were  probably  the  less  alarmed  at  this  because 
they  were  in  sympathy  with  the  Chaldean,  while  he  was  devasta- 
ting Mneveh,  and  were  certainly  in  league  with  him  when  Josiali 
felt  bound  in  honor  to  march  out  against  Necho,  king  of  Egypt,  as 
a  common  enemy  to  himself  and  to  his  ally,  the  Chaldean.  But 
relations  of  friendship  with  such  a  power  are  evanescent.  The 
Jews  soon  had  reason  to  fear  this  new  enemy. The  Lord  de- 
scribes them,  "  bitter  and  rapid,"  "  who  march  upon  broad  regions," 
vast  countries  of  the  earth,  L  e.,  who  fear  nothing,  and  strike  for 
vast  conquests. 

7.  They  are  terrible  and  dreadful :  their  judgment 
and  their  dignity  shall  proceed  of  themselves. 

8.  Their  horses  also  are  swifter  than  the  leopards, 
and  are  more  fierce  than  the  evening  wolves :  and  their 
horsemen  shall  spread  themselves,  and  their  horsemen 
shall  come  from  far ;  they  shall  fly  as  the  eagle  that  hast- 
eth  to  eat. 

Sad  proof  that  they  were  "terrible  and  dreadful"  appears  in 
the  history  (2  Chron.  36: 17):   u  lie  brought  upon  them  the  king 
11 


242  HABAKKUK.— CHAP.  I. 

of  the  Chaldees,  who  slew  their  young  men  with  the  sword  in  the 
house  of  their  sanctuary,  and  had  no  compassion  upon  young  man 
or  maiden,  old  man  or  him  that  stooped  for  age." "  Their  judg- 
ment and  their  dignity  proceeding  from  themselves,'1  seems  to 
mean  that  they  are  an  independent,  self-made  people.  Literally,  it 
reads—  "Their  decision"  (plans)  "and  their  lofty  bearing  are  self- 
originated." In  the  clause,  "  their  horsemen  spread  themselves," 

the  verb  rendered  " spread,"  means  they  " leap  fiercely  and  proud- 
ly," their  horses  being  probably  like  the  Arabian  stock  of  more 
modern  times.  The  flight  of  the  eagle  when  roused  by  hunger  is 
a  vivid  figure  for  the  most  rapid  motion  then  known. 

9.  They  shall  come  all  for  violence :  their  faces  shall 
sup  up  as  the  east  wind,  and  they  shall  gather  the  cap- 
tivity as  the  sand. 

In  the  clause,  "  their  faces  shall  sup  up  as  the  east  wind,"  the 
obscurity  of  this  translation  suggests  a  doubt  of  its  correctness. 
The  various  marginal  readings  confirm  the  opinion  that  our  trans- 
lators were  much  perplexed  with  the  passage.  Later  commentators 
also  doubt  and  differ.  It  is  difiicult.  The  principal  word  *  is  little 
known  in  our  extant  Hebrew.  Henderson  renders — "  The  aspect 
of  their  faces  is  like  the  east  wind."  Gesenius — "  The  gathering 
of  their  faces  is  forward."  The  latter  I  approve,  with  only  a  slight 
modification,  so  as  to  signify  not  the  act  of  gathering,  but  their 
faces  already  gathered,  i.  e.,  "  the  set  or  phalanx  of  their  faces  is 
forward;  "  all  as  one  in  solid  phalanx  and  complete  array,  they  set 
their  faces  forward,  turning  never  to  the  right  hand  nor  to  the  left, 
and  turning  back  for  none.  This  construction  answers  to  the  indi- 
vidual words,  and  to  the  demands  of  the  context.  Such  an  army 
will,  of  course,  gather  up  captives  as  the  sand. 

10,  And  they  shall  scoff  at  the  kings,  and  the  princes 
shall  he  a  scorn  unto  them :  they  shall  deride  every  strong- 
hold ;  for  they  shall  heap  dust,  and  take  it. 

More  than  fearless  of  kings  and  of  strongholds,  they  scoff  at  the 
one  and  deride  the  other.     It  is  only  their  sport  to  strike  terror 

through  them  all. The  last  clause  alludes  to  the  usual  method  in 

that  age  of  capturing  walled  towns — heaping  up  huge  embank- 
ments of  earth  that  even  overtopped  the  enemy's  walls,  whence 
they  hurled  their  missiles  into  the  city. 

11.  Then  shall  Ms  mind  change,  and  he  shall 
pass  oyer,  and  offend,  imputing  this  his  power  unto  his 
god. 

The  sentiment  of  this  verse  is,  that  constant  success  has  made 
the  Chaldean  another  man.     The  moderation  and  modesty  of  his 


HABAKKUK.— CHAP.  I.  243 

early  years  have  given  place  to  unbounded  aspirations.  lie  assumes 
that  the  gods  are  on  his  side,  and  ascribes  his  victories  to  their 

favor    and     help. The    first  verb,    rendered    in    our    version 

"change,'1  means  more  definitely  u to  pass  over'''' — to  pass  beyond 
former  bounds.  The  next  verb,  which  the  English  version  renders 
"  shall  pass  over,"  usually  means  to  go  beyond  due  bounds,  in  the 
sense  to  transgress. The  verse  therefore  means  to  say  that  suc- 
cess has  excited  his  ambition,  and  also  given  stimulus  to  his  trust 
in  his  idol  gods  ;  and  for  both  reasons  will  bring  down  on  him  the 
wrath  of  the  Almighty. 

Vs.  9-11  may  be  translated  thus:  "They  shall  all  come  for 
violence ;  the  serried  host  of  their  faces  is  forward,  and  so  they 
shall  gather  captives  as  the  sand.  They  shall  scoff  at  kings ;  princes 
shall  be  their  derision;  they  laugh  at  all  strongholds,  and  forth- 
with cast  up  embankments,  and  so  shall  take  them.  Then  his  spirit 
is  changed;  he  transgresses  and  sins,  ascribing  this  power  of  his 
to  his  god." 

12.  Art  tliou  not  from  everlasting,  O  Lord  my  God, 
mine  Holy  One  ?  we  shall  not  die.  O  Lord,  thou  hast 
ordained  them  for  judgment ;  and,  O  mighty  God,  thou 
hast  established  them  for  correction. 

Here  the  prophet  interposes.  The  remainder  of  this  chapter 
must  be  expounded  as  his  expostulation  or  debate  with  God,  the 
spirit  of  which  is  :  "  O  Lord,  spare  thy  heritage,  and  give  it  not  over 
to  utter  devastation.  Thy  people  doubtless  need  correction,  and  thou 
hast  ordained  the  Chaldean  power  for  this  purpose  ;  but  do  not  let 
them  ruin  our  nation  utterly  and  forever.  They  are  more  wicked 
than  we,  and  they  hold  human  life  cruelly  cheap,  as  the  fishermen 
do  the  lives  of  the  little  fishes  brought  up  by  their  huge  drag-nets." 
It  will  be  noted  that  the  prophet  seizes  the  best  point  for  intro- 
ducing his  plea — just  where  the  Chaldean's  sins  of  ambition  and 

trust  in  idols  are  brought  before  the  mind. The  phrase   "we 

shall  not  die,"  might  be  more  fitly  rendered,  "Let  us  not  die,"  i.e., 
"let  not  thy  chosen  people  be  utterly  destroyed."  He  sees  that 
they  need  discipline,  and  recognizes  God's  purpose  to  use  the  Chal- 
dean power  for  this  end. 

13.  Thou  art  of  purer  eyes  than  to  behold  evil,  and 
canst  not  look  on  iniquity :  wherefore  lookest  thou  upon 
them  that  deal  treacherously,  and  boldest  thy  tongue 
when  the  wicked  devoureth  the  man  that  is  more  right- 
eous than  he  % 

14.  And  makest  men  as  the  fishes  of  the  sea,  as  the 
creeping  things,  that  have  no  ruler  over  them  ? 

The  verb  rendered  "look,"  occurring  here  twice — "  look  on  ini- 
quity," aud  "  look  on  them  that  deal  treacherously" — is  the  same  with 


244  HABAKKUK— CHAP.  II. 

the  second  verb  in  v.  3,  there  rendered  (improperly)  "  canse  me  to 
behold."  The  sense  here,  as  there,  I  take  to  be,  "  Thon  canst  not 
look  calmly  and  unconcerned  upon  iniquity,  or  rather,  npon  misery 
—the  woe  that  sin  begets ;  it  is  not  in  thy  nature.  Wherefore, 
then,  dost  thou  look  quietly  on  the  perfidious — those  faithless 
Chaldeans— and  wherefore  art  thou  silent,"  &c.  One  point  in  the 
prophet's  plea  is,  that  the  Chaldeans  are  greater  sinners  than  the 
Jews ;  therefore  the  Lord  should  not  allow  the  greater  sinners  to 
devour  the  less. 

The  connection  with  the  previous  verse  is  close.  That  wicked 
Chaldean  not  only  devours  his  more  righteous  brother  nation,  but 
eats  up  men  as  if  they  were  little  fishes  before  him,  or  the  tiny 
insects  which  have  no  protector. 

15.  They  take  up  all  of  theni  with  the  angle,  they 
catch  them  'in  their  net,  and  gather  them  in  their  drag  : 
therefore  they  rejoice  and  are  glad. 

16.  Therefore  they  sacrifice  unto  their  net,  and  burn 
incense  unto  their  drag  ;  because  by  them  their  portion 
is  fat,  and  their  meat  plenteous. 

The  figure  of  speech  which  compares  the  seizing  and  consuming 
of  nations  of  men  to  the  taking  of  fishes  in  a  net,  runs  through  this 
verse.     "Drag"  is  really  a  drag-net,  drawn  along  the  bottom  to 

scoop  up  small  and  great  together. Their  idolatrous  hearts  and 

habits  must  not  be  omitted  in  this  argument  with  Jehovah. 
u  These  impious  Chaldeans  have  no  regard  for  thee,  O  Lord.  They 
ascribe  all  their  success  to  their  nets,  and  worship  them  as  their 
gods,  honoring  their  own  martial  prowess,  and  not  the  ever-living 
God." 

17.  Shall  they  therefore  empty  their  net,  and  not 
spare  continually  to  slay  the  nations  ? 

Will  God  allow  them  to  go  on,  emptying  and  then  filling  their 
nets,  and  having  no  compassion  in  their  souls  toward  sparing  the 
nations  from  perpetual  slaughter  ?  Such  is  the  prophet's  plea  in  be- 
half of  his  people. 


CHAPTER   II. 

In  this  chapter  the  prophet  is  seen  on  his  watch-tower,  waiting 
for  an  answer  from  the  Lord  to  his  expostulations  (v.  1.)  The 
remainder  of  the  chapter  contains  this  answer  in  its  various  parts, 
directing  the  prophet  first  to  write  out  the  vision  plainly  (v.  2) ; 
assuring  him  it  was  soon  to  be  fulfilled  (v.  3) ;  indicating  how  the 
proud  and  unbelieving  would  abuse  it,  but  the  believing  be  blessed 


HABAKKUK.— CHAP.   II.  245 

thereby  (v.  4)  ;  and  then  (vs.  5-20)  depicting  the  sins  of  the  Chal- 
deans, and  showing  that  both  general  justice  and  the  special  agencies 
of  God's  providence  would  surely  overtake  them  with  fearful 
retribution. 

1.  I  will  stand  upon  my  watch,  and  set  me  upon  the 
tower,  and  will  watch  to  see  what  lie  will  say  unto  me, 
and  what  I  shall  answer  when  I  am  reproved. 

Considered  as  a  seer,  the  prophet  must  needs  Iodic  two  ways : 
first,  to  God,  for  his  message ;  and  then  down  into  the  future,  and 
abroad  into  the  realms  of  divine  providence,  to  see  those  coming 
events  which  no  human  vision,  unaided,  could  reach.  This  verse 
strikingly  presents  the  prophet  looking  the  first  way — toward  God. 
He  says  :  "  I  will  take  my  stand  on  my  watch-tower,  and  place 
myself  on  the  fortress,  and  will  watch  to  see  what  God  will  say  to 
me,  and  what  I  shall  bring  back  (from  Him)"  concerning  my  expos- 
tulation. "  The  message  I  shall  bring  back  from  God,  and  what 
God  will  say  to  me,"  are  essentially  parallel  clauses  with  the  same 
idea.  The  word  here  rendered  "shall  answer,"*  much  more 
naturally  means  to  bring  back,  4.  e.,  from  God,  than  to  answer 

to  God. In  the  first  chapter,  some  of  the  prophet's  expostulations 

amounted  very  nearly  to  rebuke  and  chiding;  and  this  idea  is 
frequently  embraced  in  the  noun  here  used,  t  rendered  in  our  Eng- 
lish version,  "when  I  am  reproved,"  but  better,  "concerning  my 
expostulation,"  i.  en  with  God.  The  preposition  before  the  noun 
fits  this  construction,  having  the  sense,  concerning,  in  reference  to. 
The  prophet  having  said  what  is  recorded  (chap.  1 :  12-17),  should 
of  course  watch  to  see  how  the  Lord  received  it,  and  what  he  would 
say  in  reply.  He  acted  for  the  people  of  Judah,  representing  their 
case  before  God,  and  could  not  but  feel  deeply  solicitous  to  get  the 
answer  both  for  himself  and  for  them. 

2.  And  the  Lord  answered  me,  and  said,  Write  the 
vision,  and  make  it  plain  upon  tables,  that  he  may  run 
that  readeth  it. 

Here  the  answer  begins.  "Write  the  vision" — all  I  reveal — 
"engrave  it  on  tablets,  so  that  the  reader  of  it  may  run,"  L  e,  with 
it,  reading  from  it  as  he  runs.  "  He  that  readeth  in  it,"  is  possibly 
here  a  public  reader  for  an  assembly ;  but  in  this  case,  since  he  is 
expected  to  run,  he  is  more  probably  a  public  crier  for  the  streets 
and  public  grounds.  Some  interpret  thus :  That  he  may  run  his 
eye  over  it  easily  and  rapidly,  as  sermon-readers  over  their  manu- 
scripts. But  though  the  word  for  reader  may  mean  either  a  reader 
before  an  audience,  or  a  herald  in  public  grounds,  yet  no  Hebrew 
usage  sustains  the  sense  of  fluent  reading  for  the  verb  to  run. 


246  HABAKKUK.— CHAP.  II. 

3.  For  the  vision  is  yet  for  an  appointed  time,  but  at 
the  end  it  shall  speak,  and  not  lie  :  though  it  tarry,  wait 
for  it ;  because  it  will  surely  come,  it  will  not  tarry. 

There  seems  to  be  no  absolute  demand  for  restricting  the  vision 
here  spoken  of  to.  any  particular  part  of  what  God  revealed  to  Habak- 
kuk.  Of  the  whole,  the  main  events  yet  future  were :  (1.)  The  Chal- 
dean invasion  of  Judah  (recorded  1 :  5-11)  ;  and  (2.)  The  ultimate 
destruction  of  the  Chaldean  power,  and  of  Babylon,  in  righteous  ret- 
ribution for  their  sins  (2  :  5-21). Yet,  inasmuch  as  the  latter  was 

then  about  to  be  announced  to  the  prophet  (the  former  having  been 
so  already),  and  especially,  inasmuch  as  this  latter  was  the  hopeful 
part  to  the  Jewish  mind,  toward  which  they  might  look  with  com 
fort,  as  being  a  proof  of  God's  mercy  toward  themselves  and  of 
his  regard  for  intrinsic  justice  and  righteousness,  we  may  well 
assume  that  in  this  verse  the  latter  is  specially  in  mind.  Both  parts 
were  fixed  in  the  divine  counsels,  each  had  its  definite  time  to 
wait,  yet  neither  would  tarry  long.  The  former  came  probably 
within  a  few  months ;  the  latter  at  the  end  of  about  seventy  years, 
Cyrus  being  the  instrument  of  Jehovah's  vengeance  in  its  execu- 
tion.  In  the  second  clause,  th£  word  rendered  "shall  speak,"  is 

supposed  by  Gesenius  to  mean  here  "  shall  hasten."  This  word, 
however,  meaning  primarily  to  breathe  out,  to  breathe  hard,  to 
throw  out  the  breath,  has  much  more  often  the  secondary  sense  to 
speech  than  to  hasten.  The  former  is  also  more  naturally  correlated 
with  "  shall  not  lie."  Sense — At  the  end  it  shall  testify  for  itself 
without  mistake  as  to  its  fulfilment.    Ye  shall  know  the  fulfilment 

when  it  comes. In  the  last_  two  clauses  the  English  version 

seems  first  to  imply  that  it  will  "tarry,"  and  then  to  affirm  that  it 
will  not  "tarry."  The  Hebrew  has  no  such  apparent  contradiction, 
for  it  uses  two  different  verbs,  and  does  not,  as  the  English  does, 
repeat  the  same.  "  Though  it  linger,  yet  wait  for  it,  for  it  Avill 
surely  come  ;  it  will  not  be  behind  the  time"  i.  e.,  will  not  be  too  late, 
so  as  to  come  in  afterwards.  This  is  the  exact  sense  of  the  second 
verb. 

4.  Behold,  his  soul  which  is  lifted  up  is  not  upright 
in  him  :  but  the  just  shall  live  by  his  faith. 

In  these  times  that  try  men's  souls,  involving  the  invasion  by 
the  terrible  Chaldeans,  just  coming  upon  the  people  as  announced 
above  (1 :  5-10),  and  the  retribution  to  come  at  some  future  day 
on  them — a  thing  of  faith,  forming  the  chief  burden  of  chapter 
2 — some  would  be  intensely  agitated,  having  practically  no  faith 
in  God's  promises,  or  in  his  threatened  retributive  judgments  on 
the  wicked  Chaldean.  Others  would  repose  calmly  upon  God 
through  their  faith.  These  two  classes  are  before  us  in  this  verse. 
I  paraphrase  it  thus:  "Behold  the  proud,  disquieted  man.  His 
soul  within  him  is  not  placid;  but  as  for  the  righteous  man,  he 
shall  live  by  his  faith." The  verb  "  live"  must  be  taken  in  its 


HABAKKUK.— CHAP.  II.  247 

very  common  moral  sense  of  true  blessings — the  calm  repose  of  a 

true  faith  in  God. The  Hebrew  accents  connect  very  closely  the 

words  rendered  "  the  just  "  and  "  ~by  his  faith,"  showing  that  the 
earlier  Jews  read  the  clause,  "  He  who  is  all  right  in  respect  to  his 
faith  shall  live."  This  construction  also  makes  a  natural  antithesis 
between  the  proud  man  of  the  first  clause  and  the  sincerely  be- 
lieving man  of  the  second.  The  former  is  never  placid ;  the  latter 
enjoys  in  the  rest  of  faith  that  true  life  which  is  real  blessedness. 

The  construction  given  first  above  disregards  the  authority  of  the 

accents. Some  take  the  proud,  disquieted  man  of  this  verse  to  be 

the  Chaldean.  I  prefer  to  find  in  him  the  unbelieving  ;Jew,  and 
assume  that  the  discourse  turns  to  the  Chaldean  in  v.  5. 

5.  Yea,  also,  because  he  transgresseth  by  wine,  he  is 
a  proud  man,  neither  keepeth  at  home,  who  enlargeth 
his  desire  as  hell,  and  is  as  death,  and  cannot  be  satis- 
fied, but  gathereth  unto  him  all  nations,  and  heapeth 
unto  him  all  people  : 

At  this  point  the  strain  of  discourse  turns  to  the  Chaldean  power, 
considered  as  a  unit,  and  continues  to  speak  of  him  through  the 

chapter. Starting  with  the  thought  in  the  first  clause  of  v.  4 — 

the  case  of  the  proud,  unbelieving,  and  therefore  disquieted  Jew — 
the  prophet  proceeds  to  say:  "How  much  more  of  this  one  (the 
Chaldean)  because  he  errs  the  more  by  reason  of  wine,  is  a  proud 
maD,  and  never  rests  quietly  at  home;  who  enlarges  his  desire  as 
Sheol  (i.  e.,  the  grave)  does  its  mouth,  and  he  is  like  Death  and  is 
never  satisfied ;  and  consequently  he  gathers  unto  him  all  the  na- 
tions and  annexes  to  himself  all  the  peoples."  This  represents  the 
ambition  of  a  young  conquering  power,  grasping  the  dominion  of 
the  world,  and,  like  Alexander,  pained  to  tears  when  he  finds  no 

other  world  to  conquer.     Such  is  the  Chaldean. The  reader  will 

note,  here  and  onward  through  the  chapter,  how  the  Lord  does  in 
fact  answer  the  expostulations  of  his  prophet,  recorded  1 :  12-17. 
The  prophet  had  virtually  said  :  "  O  Lord,  thou  art  ever  righteous 
and  just;  thou  canst  not  look  quietly  on  wrong  and  its  resulting 
miseries ;  how,  then,  canst  thou  see  the  Chaldean  exterminate  an- 
other nation  more  righteous  than  he  ?  How  canst  thou  let  him  go 
on  unpunished,  sweeping  the  nations  into  his  drag-net,  and  slaugh- 
tering myriads  of  men  to  satiate  his  mad  ambition  ?  " The  Lord 

replies  :  Be  at  rest ;  the  Chaldean  is  indeed  guilty,  he  shall  have  his 
just  doom  not  for  hence.  There  shall  never  be  just  occasion  to  say 
or  to  think  that  I  can  look  down  upon  wrong-doing  and  its  conse- 
quent misery  with  indifference,  or  that  justice  has  forsaken  my 
throne. This  is  what  the  prophet  brings  back  from  God  concern- 
ing his  expostulation  (2  : 1). 

G.  Shall  not  all  these  take  up  a  parable  against  him, 
and  a  taunting  proverb  against  him,  and  say,  "Woe  to 


24S  HABAKKUK.— CHAP.  II. 

liim  tli at  increaseth  that  which  is  not  his !  how  long  ?  and 
to  him  that  lacleth  himself  with  thick  clay  ! 

The  great  sin  of  the  Chaldean  having  been  indicated,  retribution 
conies  next.  The  moral  sense  of  mankind  is  against  him,  condemn- 
ing his  grasping,  cruel  ambition,  and  demanding  vengeance.  Of 
course,  it  is  implied  that  the  voice  of  universal  humanity  is   also 

the  voice  of  G-od. -The  special  mode  of  giving  utterance  to  this 

voice  of  mankind  is  that  of  pronouncing  a  woe  on  the  Chaldean, 
superadding  to  the  solemnity  of  the  woe  the  keen  retort  which  car- 
ries with  it  the  idea  of  deserved  and  righteous  retribution — the  sort 
of  taunt  expressed  when  men  say,  "  You  have  only  your  deserts." 
A  similar  taunt,  done  in  the  loftiest  strain  of  irony,  may  be  seen  in 

Isa.  14,  over  the  foreseen  fall  of  this  same  Babylon. "  Shall  not 

all  these  nations  whom  he  has  warred  against,  subdued,  or  imper- 
illed, take  up  this  taunting  strain  against  him  and  say :  Woe  to  him 
who  grasps  and  accumulates  what  is  not  his  own !  How  long  must 
this  be?  " — implying  that  in  the  Chaldean's  purpose  there  would  be 
no  end  to  it,  but  in  the  retributions  of  justice  it  could  not  last  long. 

"Woe  to  him  that  ladeth  himself"  (not  with  "  thick  clay,"  but) 

"  with  goods  taken  in  pledge  " — such  as  the  Hebrew  law  forbade 
men  to  keep  over  night  if  taken  from  the  poor — the  sense  being, 
with  sins  against  mankind  which  demand  and  shall  have  their  just 
retribution.     The  Chaldean  was  loading  himself  quite  too  heavily 

with  sins  that  would  bring  upon  him  the  vengeance  of  justice. 

This  taunting  strain  is  methodically  arranged — its  successive  stan- 
zas beginning  with  "  Woe  " — as  the  reader  may  see  (vs.  6,  9, 12,  15, 
19). 

7.  Shall  they  not  rise  up  suddenly  that  shall  Lite 
thee,  and  awake  that  shall  vex  thee,  and  thou  shalt  be 
for  booties  unto  them  ? 

Those  who  ultimately  came  down  on  Babylon  to  "  bite  "  and  to 
"vex"  her — God's  instruments  for  vengeance  upon  her,  viz.,  the 
Medo-Persian  power — did  start  up  suddenly,  aud  spring  upon  her 
in  an  unexpected  hour,  and  she  became  their  spoil. 

8.  Because  thou  hast  spoiled  many  nations,  all  the 
remnant  of  the  people  shall  spoil  thee  ;  because  of  men's 
blood,  and  for  the  violence  of  the  land,  of  the  city,  and 
of  all  that  dwell  therein. 

"  Because  thou  hast  spoiled  many  nations,  all  the  remaining 
nations "  (not  utterly  crushed)  "  shall  make  common  cause,  and 
shall  spoil  thee, — because  of  the  blood  of  men  "  (shed  in  wanton 
profusion),  and  for  the  violence  wrought  in  the  earth,  in  the  city, 
and  upon  all  that  dwell  therein." 

9.  "Woe  to  him  that  coveteth  an  evil  covetousness  to 
his  house,  that  he  may  set  his  nest  on  high,  that  he  may 
be  delivered  from  the  power  of  evil ! 


ILVBAKKUK.— CUAP.  II.  2-19 

The  Chaldeans  employed  the  wealth  and  the  muscle  of  the  na- 
tions they  subdued,  in  building  their  immense  walls,  towers,  and 
castles — hoping  thereby  to  make  their  city  impregnable,  and  thus 
deliver  themselves  from  the  fear  of  future  harm  from  foreign  ene- 
mies. They  did  indeed  set  their  nest  on  high,  as  the  eagle  in  the 
lofty  crags  of  the  rock. 

10.  Tliou  hast  consulted  shame  to  thy  house  by  cut- 
ting off  many  people,  and  hast  sinned  against  thy  soul ! 

Thy  counsels  in  this  thing  have  brought  shame  (implying  not 
only  dishonor  but  ruin)  to  thy  house,  destroying  so  many  nations  to 
enrich  thyself.     So  doing,  thou  hast  sinned  against  thine  own  life. 

Other  instances  of  the  phrase — "  to  sin  against  one's  own  sou 

or  life  " — may  be  seen,  Prov.  8 :  36  and  20 :  2. 

11.  For  the  stone  shall  cry  out  of  the  wall,  and  the 
beam  out  of  the  timber  shall  answer  it. 

The  sense  of  wrong  and  the  demand  for  retribution,  so  universal 
in  all  human  hearts,  is,  by  a  bold  but  most  beautiful  conception, 
thought  of  here  as  pervading  the  very  stones  and  timbers  of  the 
house  built  by  injustice.  Jesus  Christ  once  said — "  If  these  should 
hold  their  peace,  the  stones  would  immediately  cry  out."  So  the 
stone  in  this  wall  cries  out  against  the  wrong  done — against  the 
bloody  fingers  laid  upon  it — and  the  cross-beam  among  the  timbers 
responds  to  reecho  the  complaint. 

12.  "Woe  to  him  that  buildeth  a  town  with  blood, 
and  establisheth  a  city  by  iniquity ! 

13.  Behold,  is  it  not  of  the  Lord  of  hosts  that  the 
people  shall  labor  in  the  very  fire,  and  the  people  shall 
weary  themselves  for  very  vanity  ? 

This  woe  looks  to  the  city  of  Babylon.  She  obtained  her 
laborers  for  her  immense  walls  by  taking  them  captive  in  war,  and 
then  coercing  them  into  slaves  under  her  military  power.  So  they 
wrought  with  their  bloody  fingers.  Babylon  laid  up  her  walls  in 
blood  and  planted  their  foundations  in  wrong:  so  the  woes  of  God 

and  of  universal  justice  abode  upon  her  ! "  Behold,"  calls  special 

attention  to  the  fact  that  it  came  from  the  Lord  of  hosts  that  this 
great  work  was  done,  not  "  in  the  fire,"  but  "for  the  fire,"  to  be 
consumed  ere  long,  both  utterly  and  forever.  So  also  in  the  parallel 
clause — "for  mere  vanity  " — for  no  enduring  benefit.  The  original 
is  expressive — "for  fire  in  plenty"  for  abundance  of  fire — that  it 
may  become  the  sport  of  whirlwinds  of  flame.  Surely  this  is  of  the 
Lord  :  let  all  men  see  his  hand  and  his  righteous  retribution  in  all 

this! Essentially    the     same  language  is  used    by  Jeremiah 

(51 :  58) :  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  ;  The  broad  walls  of  Baby- 
lon shall  be  utterly  broken,  and  her  high  gates  shall  be  burned  with 
fire,   and  the  people  shall  labor  in  vain  and  the  folk  for  the 
11* 


250  HABAKKUK— CHAP.  II. 

fire ;  and  they  shall  be  weary ;"  but  though  laboring  to  weariness, 
yet  all  in  vain. 

14.  For  the  earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  knowledge 
of  the  glory  of  the  Loud,  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea. 

The  general  scope  of  the  context  must  determine  the  specific 
sense  of  this  passage.  This  shows  that  the  prophet  thinks  of  God 
as  glorifying  himself  by  the  retributions  of  justice  on  nations  guilty 
of  great  oppression  and  wrong.  Hence  our  verse  assumes  it  to  be 
a  great  principle  in  the  government  of  God  over  nations  as  such 
that  he  will  not  only  glorify  himself  by  the  retributions  of  justice 
upon  them,  but  will  fill  the  whole  earth  with  the  knowledge  of  this 
glory,  even  as  the  waters  cover  the  bed  of  the  sea.  He  will 
manifest  himself  so  abundantly  as  the  avenger  of  the  oppressed  and 
as  one  who  takes  vengeance  on  oppressors,  that  no  man  in  all  the 

earth  can  fail  to  know  it — none  be  too  blind  to  see  it. The  same 

sentiment  is  in  Num.' 14:  21 — referring  there,  however,  to  retribu- 
tion on  the  unbelieving  Hebrews  who  gave  credit  to  the  unbelieving 
spies  more  than  to  the  God  of  all  the  promises  :  "But  as  truly  as  I 
live,  all  the  earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  glory  of  the  Lord  " — 
which  was  revealed  then  in  forty  years  of  wandering  in  the  desert, 
through  privations  and  plagues  which  swept  to  their  early  graves 

the  last   man  of  that  unbelieving   host. The   very  analogous 

promise  (Isa.  11 :  9)  looks  towards  the  visitations  of  mercy  and  the 
triumphs  of  love  : — "  They  shall  not  hurt  nor  destroy  in  all  my  holy 
mountain;  for  the  earth  shall  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
Lord  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea;"  and  this  knowledge  shall  mould 
human  hearts  into  the  spirit  of  heavenly  love  and  blessed  peace. 

So  it  is  clearly  in  God's  plan  to  manifest  his  glory  in  both  ways 

— in  the  retributions  of  justice,  and  in  the  visitations  of  mercy. 

15.  Woe  unto  him  that  giveth  his  neighbor  drink, 
that  puttest  thy  bottle  to  Mm,  and  makest  him  drunken 
also,  that  thou  mayest  look  on  their  nakedness  ! 

16.  Thou  art  filled  with  shame  for  glory  :  drink  thou 
also,  and  let  thy  foreskin  be  uncovered :  the  cup  of  the 
Lord's  right  hand  shall  be  turned  unto  thee,  and  shame- 
ful spewing  shall  he  on  thy  glory. 

Translated  thus:  "Woe  to  him  who  causeth  his  neighbor  to 
drink"  {L  e.,  whatever  can  intoxicate) — "who  pourest  out  thy  hot 
wine  that  inflames,  and  even  makest  him  drunken — that  thou 
mayest  look  (exultingly)  on  their  nakedness!"  "Thou  shalt 
have  thy  fill  of  shame  instead  of  glory ;  drink  thou  too  and  expose 
-  thine  own  nakedness.  The  cup  of  the  Lord's  right  hand  shall  come 
round  to  thee,  and  shame  shall  come  over  all  thy  glory.  The 
rendering  "  shameful  spewing,"  though  pertinent  sense,  is  not 
well  sustained  by  the  original  text. The  "cup   of  the  Lord's 


HABAKKUK.— CHAP.  II.  251 

right  hand  "  carries  the  mind  to  the  fuller  statement  by  Jeremiah 
(25  :  15  :)  "  Take  the  wine-cup  of  this  fury  at  my  hand,  and  cause 
all  the  nations  to  whom  I  send  thee  to  driuk  it.  And  they  shall 
drink  and  he  moved  and  be  mad,  because  of  the  sword  that  I  shall 
send  among  them."  See  Notes  on  Nahum  1 :  10. The  Babylo- 
nians were  notorious  for  their  excesses  in  wine  and  strong  drink, 
for  which  God  remembered  them  in  the  day  of  his  visitation. 
Much  in  point  here  are  the  facts  of  her  history  when  on  the  very 
night  of  her  final  fall,  Belshazzar  and  his  lords  drank  wine  from  the 
sacred  vessels  of  Jehovah's  temple,  and  in  the  height  of  their 
drunken  revelry  the  thunder-bolts  of  ruin  fell !  (Dan.  5 :  1-4,  30, 
and  Jer.  51 :  39). 

17.  For  tlie  violence  of  Lebanon  sliall  cover  thee, 
and  the  spoil  of  beasts,  which  made  them  afraid,  because 
of  men's  blood,  and  for  the  violence  of  the  land,  of  the 
city,  and  of  all  that  dwell  therein. 

"  The  violence  of  Lebanon "  is  not  that  done  by  Lebanon 
(this  would  be  entirely  aside  from  the  course  of  thought) ;  but  done 
to  Lebanon.  "Lebanon"  here  is  probably  Jerusalem  and  her 
temple — so  named  partly  because  the  cedars  of  Lebanon  were  in 
her  temple — partly  in    reference  to  the  lofty  grandeur  of  that 

mountain  which  fitly  symbolized  the  glory  of  the  holy  city. The 

violence  done  by  Babylon  to  Jerusalem  shall  return  in  retribution 
to  overwhelm  herself.  So  also  shall  an  onslaught  like  that  on  a 
herd  of  wild  beasts  which  terrifies  them,  fall  on  thee — implying 
that  they  would  be  in  like  manner  frightened  and  panic-smitten. 

In  this  translation,  I  supply  the  needed   verb  from  the  next 

preceding  clause.  Two  things  cover  Babylon,  in  the  sense  of  over- 
whelming her  in  the  day  of  her  ruin,  viz.,  the  violence  she  has 
brought  on  Lebanon  (Jerusalem),  and  an  onslaught  like  that  on 
wild  beasts,  who  furnish  a  striking  example  of  a  panic-smitten 
host. The  last  clause  has  occurred  verbatim  (v.  8). 

18.  "What  profiteth  the  graven  image  that  the  maker 
thereof  hath  graven  it ;  the  molten  image,  and  a  teacher 
of  lies,  that  the  maker  of  his  work  trusteth  therein,  to 
make  dumb  idols  ? 

Exegetically,  the  only  question  in  this  verse  turns  on  the  precise 
relation  between  the  first  clause  and  those  that  follow,  indicated  in 
our  English  Bible  by  "  that  the  maker,"  &c.  Some  take  the  con- 
necting particle  *  as  a  relative,  thus :  "  What's  the  use  of  the  graven 
image  which  its  maker  graveth?"  I  prefer  to  make  this  particle 
indicate  a  reason  why  idol  images  are  profitless,  viz.,  because  they 
are  made  by  human  fingers ,  tlras — "  What  can  be  the  use  of  a 
graven  image,  for  its  human  maker  hath  wrought  it,"  &c.     "  What 


252  HABAKKUK.— CHAP.  III. 

is  the  use  of  a  molten  image  and  a  teacher  of  lies  (an  idol  priest), 
for  the  maker  of  it  trusts  in  his  own  work,  in  a  thing  himself  has 
made  ? " 

19.  Woe  unto  liini  that  saith  to  the  wood,  Awake ; 
to  the  dumb  stone,  Arise,  it  shall  teach !  Behold,  it  is 
laid  over  with  gold  and  silver,  and  there  is  no  breath  at 
all  in  the? midst  of  it. 

All  this  is  plain,  and  sets  forth  vividly  the  intense  folly  of  idol- 
making,  idol-worship,  and  of  all  trust  in  idols. 

20.  But  the  Lord  is  in  his  holy  temple :  let  all  the 
earth  keep  silence  before  him. 

All  unlike  the  whole  idol  system  are  the  power,  the  majesty,  and 
the  all-pervading  reign  of  the  dread  Jehovah  !  That  he  should  be 
thought  of  ~by  a  Jew  as  in  Ms  holy  temple  at  Jerusalem,  was  both 
natural  and  truthful ;  for  his  manifested  presence  was  there  in  the 
Holy  of  Holies,  reposing  above  the  mercy-seat  and  beneath  the 
wings  of  the  cherubim.     All  the  idol  temples  were  godless.     Not  so 

the  temple  of  the  Lord  of  hosts  in  Mount  Zion  ! ffis  rule  is  both 

supreme  and  universal.  Let  all  the  earth  stand  in  awe  before  him 
— all  the  more  so,  as  they  note  how  the  proud  and  conquering 
nations  of  the  earth,  like  old  Babylon,  meet  their  righteous  doom 
from  the  retributive  justice  of  his  throne ! 


CHAPTER    III. 

Tms  chapter,  said  in  the  preface  to  be  a  "  prayer,"  is  not  exclu- 
sively or  even  chiefly  prayer  in  its  strict  sense;  though  it  begins 
with  prayer  and  closes  with  most  wonderful  utterances  of  simple 
faith  and  exulting  joy  in  God. The  chapter  is  chiefly  song,  em- 
bodying as  the  immediate  answer  to  his  prayer  what  is  technically 
called  a  "  tJieopJiany  " — i.  en  a  manifestation  of  God  to  his  prophet 
— to  his  mental,  not  bodily  eye,  we  must  suppose  ;  bringing  up  be- 
fore him  in  vivid  review  the  glorious  things  God  had  wrought  for 
his  people  in  ancient  days.  The  special  aim  was  to  reveal  God  as 
seen  in  his  glorious  power,  and  in  his  loving  faithfulness  to  his 
chosen  people,  so  that  the  prophet  should  see  that  Jehovah  is  verily 
great  and  glorious,  and  especially  worthy  to  be  trusted  as  the  endur- 
ing protector  of  his  own  people.  It  was  under  the  influence  of  this 
sublimely  grand  manifestation  of  Jehovah,  that  the  prophet  makes 
at  the  close  such  an  utterance  of  his  simple  faith  and  of  his  un- 
bounded joy  and  triumph  in  the  God  of  his  salvation. 

The  publication  of  this  song,  in  connection  with  the  revelation  of 
such  calamities,  was  designed  to  inspire  the  same  faith  and  joy  in 
the  believing  portion  of  the  people  as  it  had  done  in  the  prophet's  own 


IIABAKKUK.— CHAP.   III.  253 

soul,  despite  of  the  fall  of  their  beloved  city  and  land  before  the 
terrible  Chaldean  power. 

1.  A  prayer  of  Habakkuk  tlie  prophet  upon  Skig- 
ionotli. 

"Upon  Shigionoth,"  refers  to  the  music  in  which  this  song  was 
to  be  sung — no  doubt  lofty,  bold,  triumphal,  in  keeping  with  the 
strain  of  the  sentiment. 

2.  O  Lord,  I  have  heard  thy  speech  and  was  afraid : 
O  Lord,  revive  thy  work  in  the  midst  of  the  years,  in 
the  midst  of  the  years  make  known ;  in  wrath  remember 
mercy. 

"  O  Lord,  I  have  heard'  thy  message  " — verbal  prediction,  i.  <?., 
concerning  the  invasion  by  the  Chaldeans  (as  recorded  chap.  1:  5-11), 
"  and  I  was  afraid."  "  O  Lord,  re-enact  thy  work  "  (of  deliverance 
for  thy  people)  "  in  the  midst  of  these  years ;  even  now  make 
known" — i.  e.,  thyself  and  thy  power  to  save;  in  this  manifesta- 
tion of  thy  wrath  against  us  for  our  sins,  "  remember  mercy." 

The  word  rendered  "revive,"  means  literally  to  make  alive.  In 
this  connection  it  must  be  in  the  sense  of  reproducing,  performing 
once  more  those  great  works  of  salvation  for  Israel  with  which 

their  early  history  is  filled. The  language  of  this  prayer,  "  O 

Lord  revive  thy  work,"  may  be  used  fitly  by  all  Christians  in  the 
way  of  accommodation,  as  a  prayer  for  a  revival  of  true  religion  in 
the  hearts  of  men.  Yet  this  passage  must  be  interpreted  according 
to  the  nature  of  the  subject  as  shown  in  the  context ;  and  this  re-1 
quires  us  here  to  apply  the  words  to  God's  work  of  saving  his  people 
from  being  utterly  ruined  by  the  Chaldean  invasion,  then  close  at 
hand. 

3.  God  came  from  Teman,  and  the  Holy  One  from 
mount  Paran.  Selah.  •His  glory  covered  the  heavens, 
and  the  earth  was  full  of  his  praise. 

The  theophany  proper  commences  here.  Bearing  in  mind 
that  the  prophet  had  besought  God  to  reproduce  those  glorious 
works  of  saving  power  wrought  of  old  for  his  people,  we  shall  read- 
ily see  the  fitness  of  this  peculiar  manifestation.  The  Lord  seems, 
practically,  to  reply  to  his  servant — Thou  hast  prayed  me  to  do 
again  what  I  did  in  ancient  days  for  my  people.  Bather  let  it  suffice 
thee  that  I  make  all  my  glory  pass  before  thee  in  displays  of  my  power 
and  faithful  love  to  my  people.  Thou  shalt  see  the  uplifted  glorious 
arm  of  Jehovah,  as  in  former  times,  made  bare  for  his  people,  and 
thou  shalt  know  that  I  am  still  and  evermore  the  God  of  thy  sal- 
vation.  It  is  plain  that  God  forbore  to  do  precisely  the  thing  for 

which  Habakkuk  prayed — i.  e.,  come  down  to  save  Judea  and  Jeru- 
salem just  as  he  had  long  before  saved  his  people  out  of  Egypt,  and 
made  them  victorious  in  Canaan  ; — but  he  does  a  second  thing,  not 


254  HABAKKUK.— CHAP.  III. 

less  effective  for  the  repose  and  even  joy  of  the  prophet's  heart : 
he  makes  such  revelations  of  himself  by  the  aid  of  those  historic 
scenes  as  avail  to  inspire  unbounded  faith  and  even  triumphant  joy 
in  the  God  of  his  salvation. Probably  we  can  get  no  better  con- 
ception of  this  theophany,  as  it  appeared  to  Habakkuk,  than  to 
conceive  of  it  as  a  panorama,  passing  before  the  prophet's  mental 
eye — the  divine  Spirit  causing  him  in  the  light  of  those  ancient 
historic  scenes  to  behold  a  present  God,  marching  before  the  hosts 
of  his  chosen,  or  standing  on  the  confines  of  Canaan,  or  lifting  up 
his  voice  in  awful  thunder,  shaking  the  mountains  and  filling  rivers 
and  seas  with  consternation.  The  prophet's  mental  state  was  such, 
we  may  suppose,  as  Elisha  prayed  for  in  behalf  of  his  servant — 
"  Lord,  open  his  eyes  that  he  may  see.  And  the  Lord  opened  the 
eyes  of  the  young  man,  and  he  saw  ;  and  behold,  the  mountain  was 
full  of  horses  and  chariots  of  fire  round  about  Elisha  "  (2  Kings  6 : 
17).  So  the  eyes  of  Habakkuk  were  opened  and  he  sate  God; — the 
groundwork  of  this  manifestation  of  God  being  his  former  deeds  of 
power  in  delivering  his  people  from  their  enemies,  and  planting 
them  in  their  promised  land.  These  scenes  are  made  to  pass  before 
him  in  a  sort  of  panoramic  vision,  while  God  opened  his  eyes  to  see 
things  in  their  true  relations  to  the  ever-present  agency  of  Him 
who  worketh  all  in  all,  and  worketh  none  the  less  really  because 
for  the  most  part  invisibly  to  mortal  eyes. 

Similar  conceptions  and  representations  of  God  are  not  uncom- 
mon in  Hebrew  poetry.  Thus  (Deut.  33  :  2,  26,  27)  Moses,  in  his 
last  words  of  blessing  upon  the  tribes,  said :  "  The  Lord  came  from 
Sinai,  and  rose  up  (like  the  rising  of  a  sun)  from  Seir  unto  them  ; 
he  shone  forth  from  Mount  Paran,  and  he  came  with  ten  thousands 

of  saints — from  his  right  hand  went  a  fiery  law  for  them." 

Also,  "  There  is  none  like  unto  the  God  of  Jesurun,  who  rideth 

upon  the  heavens  in  thy  help  and  in  his  excellency  on  the  sky." 

This  is  as  if  his  very  eye  saw  without  a  veil  the  unclouded  majesty 
of  the  Infinite  One  !  Such  was  his  poetic  conception  of  the  scenes 
of  Sinai;  or,  as  we  might  say — This  was  Sinai  seen  in  panoramic 
vision. Of  the  same  character  is  a  passage  in  the  Song  of  Debo- 
rah— (Judg.  5:  4,  5),  "Lord,  when  thou  wentest  out  of  Seir,  when 
thou  marchedst  out  of  the  field  of  Edom,  the  earth  trembled,  and 
the  heavens  dropped  ;  the  clouds  also  dropped  water.  The  moun- 
tains quaked  (so  the  Heb.)  before  the  Lord,  even  that  Sinai  before 
the  Lord  God  of  Israel."  Of  the  same  sort  is  Ps.  68 :  7,  8,  33  :  u  O 
God,  when  thou  wentest  forth  before  thy  people,  when  thou  didst 
march  through  the  wilderness,  the  earth  shook,  the  heavens  also 
dropped  at  the  presence  of  God,  the  God  of  Israel." — "Sing  praises 
to  him  that  rideth  upon  the  heavens  of  heavens  that  were  of  old ; 

lo,  he  doth  send  out  his  voice,  and  that  a  mighty  voice." Very 

similar  in  the  line  of  poetic  conception  are  many  expressions  in 
Ps.  77:  10-20  and  114:  1-8,  and  Isa.  63 :  11-14.,  c.  g.,  "The  waters 
saw  thee,  O  God ;  the  waters  saw  thee,  they  were  afraid  ;  the  depths 
also  were  troubled."     "The  sea  saw  it  and  fled ;  Jordan  was  driven 


HABAKKUK.— CHAP.  III.  255 

back.  What  ailed  thee,  O  thou  sea,  that  thou  fleddest?"  &c.  Ae» 
if  the  great  deep  were  waked  into  intelligence  and  consciousness  by 
those  august  and  thrilling  manifestations  of  the  majesty  of  her  King ! 

Such  conceptions  of  dead  nature  quickened  to  life,  thought,  and 

feeling  before  a  present  God,  give  wonderful  power  to  these  pano- 
ramic scenes,  of  which  the  one  intent  is  to  set  the  all-working  and 

energizing  God  before  the  mind. Some  Christians  in  later  ages 

have  testified  to  manifestations  of  God  to  their  souls,  under  which 
their  sense  of  his  attributes  and  works  has  been  not  less  impressive 
than  supernatural  presentations  of  divine  power  to  the  senses  would 
be.  Not  without  reason,  they  ascribe  these  manifestations  of  God 
to  the  divine  Spirit's  agency.     In  this  manifestation  to  Habakkuk, 

the  hand  of  the  same  Divine  Teacher  must  be  assumed. It  is 

remarkable  how  much  these  conceptions  of  God  working  upon 
Nature,  and  of  Nature  responding  to  the  agencies  of  God,  blend 
themselves  with  the  genuine  spirit  of  poetry,  exemplifying  the  fact 
that  genuine  poetry,  so  far  from  being  necessarily  unreal  and  un- 
truthful, may  be  the  veriest  reality  and  the  purest  truth.  Most 
certain  it  is  that  the  poetic  conceptions  of  God  and  of  Nature  in 
this  theophany  in  nowise  over-paint  the  actual  verities  of  things. 

Before  I  proceed  to  comment  on  particular  terms  or  clauses,  a 
few  words  are  due  in  respect  to  the  use  of  the  tenses  in  this  theoph- 
any.  If  the  views  advanced  above  are  just,  it  is  obvious  that  the 

tenses  throughout  should  be  present.  A  panorama  made  up  of  a  se- 
ries of  historic  paintings  must  naturally  represent  each  scene  as 
present.  The  events  which  constitute  the  groundwork,  and  to 
which  the  paintings  perpetually  refer,  may  have  transpired  long 
ago.     Others  like  them  may  occur  again  ;  but  the  painting  has  for 

its  object  to  give  the  observer  a  view  of  them  as  then  passing. 

So  here,  all  is  made  present  by  the  impressions  wrought  upon  the 
prophet's  mind  by  the  teaching  Spirit.* These  preliminary  re- 
marks will  sufficiently  prepare  the  way  for  the  study  of  the  pas- 
sage.  "  God  comes  up  from  Teman,"  the  South,  this  being  both 

the  etymological  significance  of  the  name,  and  the  geographical  po- 
sition of  the  place.  Mount  Paran  is  well  known  as  often  associated 
with  Sinai.  God  comes  up  from  those  regions  as  one  who  had  re- 
vealed himself  there  in  forms  of  surpassing  majesty  and  glory  in  the 

giving  of  the  law. It  will  be  recollected  that  Moses  (in  Deut. 

33)  and  the  author  of  Ps.  68  both  speak  of  God  as  coming  up  from 

Mount  Sinai,  the  land  of  the  south. The  best  critics  mostly  agree 

that  "Selah  "  is  a  musical  term,  meaning^ a use,  and  perhaps  a  direc- 

*  The  Hebrew  student  will  readily  notice  that  in  this  passage  (vs.  3-15) 
both  of  the  two  normal  Hebrew  tenses  are  used,  tbe  perfect  and  the  imper- 
fect (often  called  the  future),  some  of  the  verbs  being  in  one  tense  and 
some  in  the  other.  The  explanation  of  this  remarkable  fact  seems  to  be 
that  these  two  tenses  meet  at  a  common  centre  in  the  present,  and  in  a 
case  of  this  sort,  may  be  used  almost  indiscriminately  for  the  present,  yet 
not  altogether  so,  since  still  the  perfect  will  imply  that  the  event  was  as 
well  as  is  ;  and  the  imperfect  not  only  that  it  is,  but  will  be  yet  again. 


25 g  HABAKKUK.— CHAP.  III. 

tion  to  the  singers  to  rest  while  the  instruments  filled  out  an  inter- 
lude.    In  some  cases  (not  in  all)  the  thought  just  expressed  renders 

a  pause  for  reflection  appropriate. His  visible  glory  seems  to 

illumine  the  whole  concave  heavens  above.  The  earth  is  full  of 
manifestations  of  God  that  are  proper  themes  of  praise.  The  sense 
is  not  that  he  sees  the  world  full  of  men  actually  praising  God,  but 
rather  that  the  very  earth  itself  seems  vocal  with  praises.  Moun- 
tains, rivers,  and  the  pestilence,  all  seem  to  be  doing  God's  work 
so  perfectly,  though  unconsciously,  as  to  fill  all  the  earth  with 
voices  of  praise. 

4.  And  his  brightness  was  as  the  light ;  he  had  horns 
coming  out  of  his  hand  ;  and  there  icas  the  hiding  of  his 
power. 

The  word  rendered  "light,"*  modern  critics  suppose  here  to 
mean  the  sun.  Also  that  "horns  coming  out  of  his  hand"  are 
rays  of  light  streaming  forth  and  bearing  to  the  eye  the  appearance 
of  horns.  The  Arabic  (a  cognate  language)  shows  that  this  usage  of 
"  horn  "  is  oriental.  It  is  also  Hebraistic,  as  appears  in  the  use  of 
the  same  word  as  a  verb  (Ex.  34 :  29,  30,  35),  where  three  times 
over  it  is  said  that  the  skin  of  Moses'  face  was  horny,  i.  e.,  emitted 

horn-like  rays  of  light ;  in  the  English  version,  "  shone." The 

whole  verse  may  be  freely  translated — "  His  brightness  was  as  the 
sun  in  his  strength ;  rays  of  light  streamed  from  his  hand ;  there 
lay  concealed  his  unknown  power." 

5.  Before  him  went  the  pestilence,  and  burning  coals 
went  forth  at  his  feet. 

Jehovah  is  still  coming  up  from  the  land  of  the  south,  the  re- 
gion of  Sinai  and  the  wilderness,  marching  at  the  head  of  the  thou- 
sands of  Israel,  to  give  them  possession  of  Canaan.  This  is  the  con- 
ception of  God  throughout  this  theophany  (vs.  3-15). Before 

him  moves  onward  the  pestilence,  and  fevers  seem  to  go  forth  from 
his  presence  on  their  mission  of  death.  The  word  rendered  "  burn- 
ing coals "  has  but  two  well-established  senses :  (1)  lightnings ; 
(2)  fevers — both  having  the  common  idea  of  intense  heat.  The 
general  sense  is  that  God  sent  "  the  hornet "  (see  Ex.  23  :  28  ;  Dent. 
7:  20,  and  Josh.  24:  12),  i.  e.,  plagues,  judgments,  and,  no  doubt, 
the  pestilence,  to  cut  off  the  strong  and  warlike  Canaanites,  and 
make  them  a  more  easy  conquest  to  the  then  unwarlike  children  of 
Israel.  It  is  very  obvious,  from  a  comparison  of  the  Canaanites 
as  seen  by  the  spies,  with  the  Canaanites  as  found  by  Joshua,  that 
by  some  means  a  great  change  had  come  over  them.  Their  mili- 
tary prowess  was  far  less  formidable. 

6.  He  stood,  and  measured  the  earth:  he  beheld, 
and  drove  asunder  the  nations ;   and  the   everlasting 

*  nix 


HABAKKUK.— CHAP.   III.  257 

mountains  were  scattered,  the  perpetual  hills  did  bow : 
his  ways  are  everlasting. 

The  sense  is,  I  see  him  stand  (as  in  the  days  of  Joshua  he  stood) 
on  the  confines  of  Canaan,  a  mighty  conqueror  and  the  rightful 
Lord  of  all;  "he  measures  off  the  land"  for  his  people  with  the 
sweep  of  his  eye,  according  to  the  purposes  of  his  wisdom.  "lie 
looks,"  and  the  terror  of  that  look  "  drives  asunder  the  nations  " 
of  Canaan,  and  dispossesses  them  of  their  land,  that  his  people  may 
take  possession.  In  the  presence  of  such  majesty  "  the  everlasting 
mountains  are  scattered ;  "  "  the  enduring  hills  bow  low  "  as  in  awe 
before  him;  "his  ways  are  of  old,"  i.  e.,  they  were  manifested  in 
those  ancient  days. 

7.  I  saw  the  tents  of  Oushan  in  affliction :  and  the 
curtains  of  the  land  of  Midian  did  tremble. 

The  best  authorities  agree  in  finding  one  branch  of  the  Cushites 

in  eastern  Arabia,  and  the  Midianites  in  western. That  their 

"  tents  are  in  affliction  "  means  that  the  people  themselves,  dwelling 
in  tents,  are  troubled  by  the  glorious  things  Jehovah  is  achieving 
for  his  people.  The  "  curtains  of  Midian  "  are  their  tent-curtains, 
trembling  in  sympathy  with  the  trembling  hearts  of  their  occupants. 
The  two  clauses  are  essentially  parallel,  and  show  that  the  fear 
and  the  dread  of  Israel,  while  Jehovah  is  so  manifestly  marching  at 
their  head,  fell  on  even  remote  nations,  so  that  they  stand  appalled 
by  what  they  hear  and  see  of  his  power.  The  policy  of  the  Gibe- 
onites  (Josh.  9)  is  in  proof  of  this.  *  (See  vs.  24,  25). 

8.  Was  the  Lord  displeased  against  the  rivers  ?  was 
thine  anger  against  the  rivers  ?  was  thy  wrath  against 
the  sea,  that  thou  didst  ride  upon  thine  horses,  and  thy 
chariots  of  salvation  % 

This  verse  contemplates  the  passage  of  the  Eed  Sea  and  of  the 
Jordan.  A  bold  imagination  in  the  strains  of  lofty  song  does  not 
stop  to  narrate  the  facts  and  detail  the  circumstances.  On  the 
contrary,  assuming  these,  and  speaking  of  events  as  they  appear  to 
the  eye,  the  prophet  exclaims :  "  What  aileth  thee,  O  thou  Jor- 
dan ? "  Is  it  because  the  Lord  is  angry  against  the  rivers  ?  is  it 
that  his  wrath  is  on  the  sea  that  he  drives  their  waters  back,  and 
seems  to  rebuke  them  for  obtruding  themselves  in  the  pathway  he 

has  marked  out  for  the  hosts  of  his  chosen  ? "  Rivers,"  twice  in 

the  plural,  contemplate  the  Red  Sea  as  one,  the  Jordan  another. 
Though  it  was  more  properly  an  arm  of  the  sea,  yet  its  tides  are 
said  to  rise  seven  feet,  and  consequently  must  make  an  active  cur- 
rent. But  a  strong  imagination  is  not  wont  to  be  precise  as  to 
number.  Indeed,  the  startling  fact  is  the  main  thing,  and  not  the 
number  of  rivers  in  question.     The  last  clause  shows  that  the  Eed 

Sea  is  in  his  mind. "  That  thy  chariots  are  salvation "  is  the 

precise  rendering,  the  full  construction  being  that  thy  chariots  are 


258  HABAKKUK.— CHAP.  III. 

chariots  of  salvation,  L  e.,  that  riding  in  royal  state  as  a  conquering 
hero  on  thy  horses  and  chariots  of  Avar  thou  dost  save  thy  people 
from  the  grasp  of  Pharaoh,  and  bring  them  forth  in  triumph. 

9.  Thy  bow  was  made  quite  naked,  according  to  the 
oaths  of  the  tribes,  even  thy  word.  Selah.  Thou  didst 
cleave  the  earth  with  rivers. 

This  verse  should  close  with  "  Selah."  The  first  clause  presents 
no  difficulty.  The  second  has  perplexed  commentators,  and  scat- 
tered their  opinions  more  than  almost  any  other  passage  in  the 
Bible.  Dr.  Henderson  remarks  that  one  hundred  different  exposi- 
tions of  it  have  been  given. "Thy  bow  is  made  quite  naked" 

conceives  of  Jehovah  as  still  a  warrior  chieftain  at  the  head  of  his 
martial  hosts,  coming  down  in  battle  upon  the  nations  of  Canaan. 
To  "  make  the  bow  naked "  is  to  draw  it  out  from  its  sheath  or 
case,  which  was  a  protection  necessary  to  preserve  the  string  from 
dampness,  and  keep  it  in  order  for  service.     Drawn  out  and  made 

quite  naked,  it  was  ready  for  use. The  next  clause,  interpreted 

so  variously,  has  in  Hebrew  three  words,*  all  of  them  words  of 
very  frequent  occurrence,  especially  the  first  two,  and  of  well-es- 
tablished meaning.  The  first  word  may  be  a  noun  in  the  sense  of 
oaths,  possibly  sevens,  or  a  participle,  meaning  sworn.  The  sec- 
ond is  a  noun,  meaning  originally  a  rod,  something  stretched  out; 
then  a  shoot  or  twig ;  but  in  use  most  often,  the  tribes  of  ^  Israel. 
The  third  means  a  word,  a  word  of  command  or  of  threatening;  in 
rare  instances,  a  watchword  or  a  song. Here  follow  some  in- 
terpretations by  the  ablest    commentators.- Dr.   Henderson — 

"  Sevens  of  spears  was  the  word  !  "  i.  e.,  let  there  be  a  full  comple- 
ment of  spears  for  the  war.     This  is  the  divine  mandate. Gese- 

nms — «  Sworn  are  the  rods  of  his  word,"  *.  e.,  the  promised  chas- 
tisements ;  he  has  sworn  the  overthrow  of  his  enemies.  But  Gesenius 
favors  a  slight  change  in  the  first  letter  of  the  first  word,  by  which  it 
would  come  from  a  different  root,  meaning  to  be  sated,  to  be  full, 
and  then  would  render — "  Sated  are  the  spears,  i.  e.,  with  blood ! 

A  song !  " After  a  somewhat  extended  examination,  I  prefer  the 

rendering  of  our  received  trauslation,  on  the  following  grounds  : 

(1.)  It  gives  each  word  its  most  common  meaning.  The  usage 
of  the  words  rendered  "  oaths  "  and  "  tribes  "  is  very  strong.  It  is 
not  easy  for  one  who  has  examined  it  to  see  how  a  Hebrew  reader 
could  understand  these  words  to  mean  any  thing  else  in  this  con- 
nection. 

(2.)  This  sense  is  in  harmony  with  truth,  and  the  truth  is  one 
which  the  Lord  has  often  taken  special  pains  to  reassert  and  im- 
press, viz.,  that  the  conquest  of  Canaan  for  the  tribes  of  Israel  was 
in  fulfilment  of  his  oft-sworn  promise  to  their  fathers.  (See  Deut. 
7 :  7,  8,  12 ;  Ps.  105  :  8-11 ;  Jer.  11 :  4,  5). The  "great  theme  of 


HABAKKUK.— CHAP.  III.  259 

this  thcophany  is  this  very  conquest.  Hence  the  fitness  of  this 
reference  to  the  oath  of  Jehovah  to  give  Canaan  to  the  tribes. 

(3.)  In  this  construction  the  oldest  authorities  all  agree,  e.  g., 
the  Chaldee  Paraphrast:  "Thou  didst  marvellously  reveal  thyself  in 
thy  great  power  on  account  of  thy  covenant  which  thy  word  had 

made  with  the  tribes  for  the  ages  to  come.'1 Also  Jerome: 

"Ascending  thy  chariot  and  seizing  thy  bow,  thou  wilt  give  salva- 
tion to  thy  people,  and  wilt  fulfil  for  all  time  the  oaths  which  thou 
hast  sworn  to  our  fathers  and  the  tribes." 

(4.)  No  other  interpretation  is  so  well  supported,  or  is  obnox- 
ious to  so  few  objections. "Selah"  calls  for  a  pause,  appro- 

piate  here  for  reflection. "  Thou  didst  cleave  the  earth  with  riv- 
ers "  looks  toward  those  fearful  convulsions  occasioned  by  earth- 
quakes, which  often  open  new  fountains  and  plough  out  new  water- 
courses. 

10.  The  mountains  saw  thee,  and  they  trembled: 
the  overflowing  of  the  water  passed  by  :  the  deep  uttered 
his  voice,  and  lifted  up  his  hands  on  high. 

A  strong  imagination  gives  to  inanimate  objects  life,  thought, 
and  emotion.  So  here — The  u  mountains  see "  Jehovah  as  he 
stands  forth  at  the  head  of  his  hosts  in  Canaan,  "  and  they  trem- 
ble" The  verb  here  used  means  to  move  in  a  circle,  to  dance ; 
then  to  be  in  pain,  to  writhe ;  also  to  shake,  as  here,  with  the  acces- 
sory idea  of  being  in  anguish. The  great  floods  of  water  swept 

past  and  along,  with  reference  perhaps  to  the  Jordan,  long  dammed 
up  while  the  people  were  passing  through  its  bed,  and  then  rushing 
with  augmented  volume  and  force ;  or  possibly  to  great  storms  of 
hail  and  rain  which  the  Lord  sent  down  in  some  of  the  great  battles 

fought  with  the  Canaanites. In  the  phrase  "  the  deep  uttered 

his  voice,"  lies  one  of  the  grandest  conceptions  found  in  any  lan- 
guage. The  conscious  spirit  of  the  Great  Deep,  affrighted  before 
the  majesty  of  Nature's  King  and  Lord,  throws  up  his  hands  and 
utters  screams  of  awe  and  terror !  How  can  he  endure  such  a 
Presence?  How  can  he  be  placid  when  the  great  and  dreadful 
God  comes  so  near ! 

11.  The  sun  and  moon  stood  still  in  their  habitation ; 
at  the  light  of  thine  arrows  they  went,  and  at  the  shining 
of  thy  glittering  spear. 

Not  only  are  the  mountains  and  the  great  deep  agitated  at  the 
presence  of  Jehovah  :  "  The  sun  and  the  moon  stand  back  toward 
their  dwelling-places"— literally,  stand  toward,  in  the  sense  in 
which  it  is  said  of  a  ship  at  sea,  she  stands  toward  a  given  point. 
They  made  for  the  dwelling-places  where  they  were  thought  to 
repose  when  withdrawn  from  human  view.     Ah  !  they,  too,  cannot 

bear  the  dread  presence  of  Jehovah  in  his  majesty ! They  retire 

to  their  hiding-places  "  at  the  light  of  thine  arrows  which  flew— at 


260  HABAKKUK.— CHAP.  III. 

the  brightness  of  the  lightning  of  thy  spear."  So  conscious  are  they 
of  their  inferiority,  so  ashamed  to  put  their  feeble  light  in  contrast 
with  the  blaze  of  Jehovah's  splendor,  they  shrink  away  to  their  re- 
cesses.  Orientals  are  accustomed  to  speak  of  the  heavenly  bodies 

as  having  their  homes,  mansions,  abodes.* The  word  "  they  " 

before  "  went "  refers,  not  to  the  sun  or  moon,  nor  to  the  Hebrew 
soldiers,  but  to  God's  arrows,  the  lightnings.  These  are  said  not 
merely  to  go,  but  to  fly — a  very  intensive  form  of  the  verb  go. 

12.  Thou  didst  marcli  through  the  laud  iu  indigna- 
tion, thou  didst  thresh  the  heathen  in  anger. 

Putting  the  emphatic  words  first  in  order,  the  Hebrew  would 
run — 

"  In  wrath  thou  didst  march  through  the  land  ; 
In  fury  thou  didst  thresh  the  nations" — 

sweeping  away  the  guilty  and  doomed  nations  of  Canaan  from  be- 
fore thy  people. 

13.  Thou  wentest  forth  for  the  salvation  of  thy  people^ 
even  for  salvation  with  thine  anointed ;  thou  woundedst 
the  head  out  of  the  house  of  the  wicked,  by  discovering 
the  foundation  unto  the  neck.     Selah. 

The  first  clause  is  plain;  the  last  is  specially  difficult. "Thy 

anointed  "  must,  by  the  demands  of  the  parallelism,  be  the  same 
with  "  thy  people."  The  sentiment  is  simply  that  God  marched 
thus  through  the  land  to  save  his  people,  considered  as  his  chosen 
and  anointed,  to  give  them  victory  over  their  enemies  and  possession 
of  Canaan. Upon  the  last  clause  few  words  must  suffice,  present- 
ing only  the  construction  which  I   on  the  whole  prefer. By 

"house  "  (*.  e.  of  the  wicked)  may  be  meant  the  family,  the  class 
of  people ;  or  the  structure,  the  building,  conceived  of  as  embody- 
ing   then*    interests    and    strength.     I    prefer    the    latter. By 

"head  "  may  be  meant  the  head-men,  the  princes  of  the  family  or 
clique  of  the  wicked  ;  or  the  highest  part  of  the  structure.  I  adopt 
the  latter,  and  therefore  translate :  "  Thou  dashest  to  pieces  the 
head  "  (and  dost  strike  it  off)  "  from  the  house  of  the  wicked,  laying 
bare  the  foundation  even  to  the  neck" — i.  e.  as  deep  as  water 
would  be  that  came  up  to  the  neck — of  course,  utterly  destroying 
the  entire  structure  which  represents  the  strength  and  cause  of  the 
wicked.  A  similar  case  of  smiting  the  head  and  dashing  the  whole 
structure  to  atoms  appears  Amos  9  :  1.  This  may  have  been  in  the 
prophet's  mind.  The  phrase  "  even  to  the  neck  "  was  proverbial, 
at  first  to  indicate  a  depth  of  water  nearly  sufficient  to  drown  a 
man.  See  Isa.  8 :  8  and  30 :  28.  Probably  it  canie  thence  to  be  used 
for  about  the  same  depth,  five  feet,  more  or  less,  in  other  relations. 

*  I  render  "  toward  their  habitation,"  on  the  strength  of  what  gram- 
marians call  "He  local"  which  is  appended  to  the  word  for  habitation,  giv- 
ing the  sense,  "  toward  their  habitation." 


HABAKKUK.— CHAP.   III.  261 

This  would  be  deep  enough  to  tear  up  the  foundations  of  a  building, 
and  effect  its  utter  ruin.  If  we  adhere  to  the  Hebrew  text,  and 
suppose  any  connection  of  thought  between  these  two  clauses  now 
under  consideration,  this  must  be  the  construction.  If  it  were  ever 
allowable  to  admit  that  a  slight  error  of  one  letter  has  crept  into  the 
text,  for  which  the  manuscripts  give  no  authority,  I  should  favor 
such  a  solution  here,  and  then  read  rock  in  place  of  neck*  But  I 
hold  it  to  be  the  work  of  a  commentator  to  interpret  his  text  rather 
than  to  amend  it,  and  therefore  abstain  on  principle  from  tampering 
with  such  conjectures.  To  decide  between  conflicting  testimonies 
of  manuscripts  and  other  authorities  is  another  matter,  sometimes 
quite  inevitable,  and  quite  allowable. 

14.  Thou  didst  strike  through  with  his  staves  the 
head  of  his  villages  :  they  came  out  as  a  whirlwind  to 
scatter  me :  their  rejoicing  was  as  to  devour  the  poor 
secretly. 

"Thou  didst  strike  through  (pierce)  with  his  own  spears  the 
head  of  his  princes."  The  word  "  head "  is  the  same  as  in  the 
first  clause  of  v.  13,  but  means  here  a  man's  head,  and  not  either 
the  head-men  (princes),  or  the  head  (summit)  of  a  building.  The 
passage  may  allude  to  the  case  of  Jael  smiting  a  nail  through  the 
head  of  Sisera.  In  general,  it  means  that  God  turned  their 
own  weapons  upon  themselves,  panic-smiting  their  hosts  and 
setting  them  to  slaughter  one  another.  See  Judges  7 :  20-22, 
and  1  Sam.  14:15,  16 — Gideon  and  his  three  hundred  against 
the  countless  Midianites;  Jonathan  and  his  armor-bearer  against 
the  Philistines. "  They,  the  Canaanites,  came  forth  like  a  whirl- 
wind to  scatter  me" — where  ume"  through  the  prophet's  sym- 
pathy with  the  people  of  God,  represents  that  whole  people. 

The  Canaanites  rejoiced  in  their  work  of  destruction,  as  wicked 
men  rejoice  when  they  can  devour  the  poor  defenceless  ones 
secretly,  without  exposure  and  consequent  punishment.  David,  in 
several  passages,  refers  to  this  joy  of  the  wicked  in  maltreating  the 
defenceless,  without  exposing  themselves  to  retribution.  See  Ps. 
10 : 8-11. 

15.  Thou  didst  walk  through  the  sea  with  thine 
horses,  through  the  heap  of  great  waters. 

The  word  rendered  "  heap  "  means  here  the  foaming — in  this 
case,  the  foaming  of  the  mighty  waters.  "  Thou,  Jehovah,  didst 
march  through  the  sea  with  thy  horses;-"  &c,  with  a  tacit  reference 
to  the  passage  of  the  Red  Sea  for  the  figure^  but  probably,  as  to  the 
thing  intended,  referring  to  Jehovah's  marching  with  his  victorious 
hosts  among  the  mad  and  raging  nations  of  Canaan.  This  was  the 
last  scene  in  this  august  panorama.    Thus  closes  this  magnificent 

*  "AS  instead  of  IMS 


252  HABAEKUK.— CHAP.  III. 

portrayal  of  Jehovah's  great  achievements  for  his  ancient  people. 
Never  were  nobler  conceptions  wrought  np  with  bolder  and  yet  so 
chaste  imagination,  or  in  loftier  strains  of  triumphal  song. 

16.  "When  I  heard,  my  belly  trembled;  niy  lips 
quivered  at  the  voice  :  rottenness  entered  into  my  bones, 
and  I  trembled  in  myself,  that  I  might  rest  in  the  day 
of  trouble :  when  he  cometh  up  unto  the  people,  he 
will  invade  them  with  his  troops. 

Here  the  prophet  falls  back  to  the  point  from  which  he  started 
(v.  2) — to  the  fear  which  agitated  him  so  deeply  when  ho  first 
heard  from  the  Lord  that  the  fierce  and  terrible  Chaldeans  were 
surely  coming  to  overwhelm  the  nation,  to  lay  the  land  desolate, 

and  the  loved  and  holy  city  with  its  sacred  temple  in  ruins. 

With  all  the  oriental  nations,  the  belly  is  the  seat  of  the  emotions, 
especially  of  grief.  Thus  Habbakuk  :  "  My  bowels  were  strangely 
agitated;  my  lips  quivered  at  the  voice,"  i.  e.,  that  uttered  those 
words  about  the  Chaldeans;  "rottenness  entered  into  my  bones" 
and  all  my  strength  perished — the  bones  being  the  pillars  and  frame- 
work of  the  animal  system;  "I trembled,"  not  precisely  "in  my- 
self," but  under  me,  my  knees  shaking  and  refusing  their  office — so 
strong  was  my  agony  of  desire  "  that  I  might  have  rest  in  the  day 
of  trouble,  in  the  coming  up  of  the  people  who  shall  invade  us." 
The  last  clause  must  be  connected  with  the  preceding  more  closely 
than  in  our  English  Bible.     I  have  given  a  very  literal  and  (as  I 

suppose)  an  accurate  translation. The  period  around  which  his 

anxieties  clustered  was  the  hour  of  the  anticipated  invasion  by 
the  Chaldeans.  His  prayer  and  his  solicitude  looked  toward  rest 
for  his  spirit  in  that  day  of  trouble  when  this  fierce  and  savage 

people  should  come  up  against  Jerusalem. The  word  rendered 

"invade,"  means  to  press  upon  and  besiege  with  troops. 

17.  Although  the  fig-tree  shall  not  blossom,  neither 
shall  fruit  he  in  the  vines ;  the  labor  of  the  olive  shall 
fail,  and  the  fields  shall  yield  no  meat ;  the  flock  shall 
be  cut  off  from  the  fold,  and  there  shall  he  no  herd  in  the 
stalls : 

18.  Yet  I  will  rejoice  in  the  Loed,  I  will  joy  in  the 
God  of  my  salvation. 

19.  The  Lord  God  is  my  strength,  and  he  will  make 
my  feet  like  hinds'  feet,  and  he  will  make  me  to  walk 
upon  mine  high  places.  To  the  chief  singer  on  my 
stringed  instruments. 

The  prophet's  prayer  was  most  abundantly  answered.  The 
Lord  gave  him  "peace  like  a  river;" — nay,  more  than  merely 
peace— joy  and  exultation  in  the  Lord  his  God,  and  in  him  alone 


HABAKKUK.— CHAP.  m.  263 

and  only.  The  sentiment  of  the  seventeenth  verse  is  that  though 
every  thing  else  should  fail,  the  fig-tree,  the  vine,  the  olive,  the 
fields,  the  flocks  and  the  herds,  yet  the  everlasting  God  would 
still  live  and  never  could  fail  or  he  cut  off,  or  be  any  the  less  a 
faithful  and  glorious  God  for  all  the  storms  of  earth,  or  for  the  in- 
vasion and  desolating  sweep  of  the  most  savage  robber  hosts.  The 
last  verse  heightens  the  showing  of  his  joy.  Elastic  and  buoyant, 
his  feet  like  the  feet  of  the  hind  who  bounds  over  the  cliffs  and 
never  makes  a  mis-step  on  the  crags  of  the  mountain — so  he  moves 
along  the  high  places  of  the  earth,  all  undisturbed  by  the  storms 

and  troubles  that  harass  the  dwellers  in  the  vales  below. It 

seems  plain  that  the  prophet  was  brought  to  this  sublime  height 
and  placid  rest  of  faith  by  means  of  those  vivid,  soul-thrilling 
views  of  God  presented  in  this  chapter,  in  which  God  is  seen  in 
his  great  works  of  mercy  and  of  power  in  behalf  of  his  people. 
Herein  lie  the  special  instruction  and  the  great  value  of  this 
wonderful  chapter.  In  point  of  literary  merit,  its  beauty  and  sub- 
limity are  of  the  highest  order,  and  challenge  our  intense  admira- 
tion ;  but  far  above  and  better  than  all  those  beauties  is  the  sub- 
lime moral  lesson  it  teaches,  viz.,  that  if  any  "  good  man  would  fix 
his  hand  upon  the  skies  and  bid  earth  roll,  nor  feel  her  idle  whirl," 
the  rational  mode  of  reaching  this  sublime  repose  of  faith  is  to 
study  the  great  works  of  God's  power  and  mercy  as  found  in  the 
historic  pages  of  his  word,  and  as  first  revealed  from  heaven  in  the 
ways  of  his  providence  and  miracle-working  power  toward  his 
people  in  the  days  of  old.  This  study  of  God,  deep,  appreciative, 
prayerful,  with  the  aid  of  his  teaching  Spirit,  must  be  the  one  great 
condition  on  our  part — a  trustful,  believing  study,  with  a  loving 
and  appropriating  faith.  Such  a  study  of  God,  with  such  help 
from  his  Spirit,  give  their  utmost  vividness  and  power  to  those 
great  truths  respecting  God  which  we  need  to  see  and  feel  as 
realities.  Oh,  it  is  beyond  measure  blessed  to  have  the  soul  thus 
filled  with  the  practical  impression  of  those  truths !  Then  what 
was  only  as  a  dream  before,  becomes  reality,  clearly  seen  and  deeply 
felt,  and  then  it  becomes  natural  and  easy  to  adjust  one's  heart  and 
life  to  the  demands  of  those  truths.  They  call  for  implicit  faith  in 
God ;  impressed  by  such  views  of  God,  and  drawrn  by  his  Spirit, 
we  seem  spontaneously  to  yield  it.  So  Habakkuk  found  his  heart 
full  of  the  simplest,  sweetest  trust  in  God,  and  in  God  alone — in 
God,  though  every  thing  else  should  fail. 

It  should  have  been  more  distinctly  noted  that  the  fig-tree  and 
the  vine  stand  here  to  represent,  not  themselves  alone,  but  every 
other  earthly  good.  They  stand  for  home  and  dear  ones,  for 
country  and  sanctuary,  for  safety  of  person  and  for  dear  life. 
Although  all  these  should  fail,  yet,  said  the  prophet,  will  I  rejoice 
in  the  Lord;  I  will  joy  in  the  God  of  my  salvation.  In  the  same 
spirit,  a  psalmist  said :  "  My  flesh  and  my  heart  faileth  ;  but  God  is 
the  strength  of  my  heart,  and  my  portion  forever  "  (Ps.  73 :  26). 
The  reader  will  scarcely  need  to  be  reminded  that  any  and 


264  HABAKKUK.— CHAP.  III. 

every  one  who  cometh  to  the  knowledge  of  this  sublime  example 
of  faith  may  reach  it  for  himself  personally  by  the  same  steps. 
There  is  no  exclusiveness  in  this  gift  of  faith ;  it  cometh  alike  to  the 
simple-hearted  child  and  to  the  wisest  philosopher — to  each  and  to 
all  who  heartily  receive  God  as  their  supreme  portion,  and  fully  open 

their  souls  to  his  teaching,  moulding  Spirit. And  who  will  not 

prize  this  simple  yet  mighty  faith?  To  whom  would  it  not  be  a 
blessing  high  above  all  other  blessings  possible?  It  is  like  pos- 
sessing and  inheriting  the  Infinite  God!  This  prophet  foresaw  that 
soon  he  should  own  no  vine  or  fig-tree,  no  herd  or  flock;  but  he 
was  more  than  satisfied,  for  he  had  (it  might  almost  be  said,  he 
owned) — he  had,  as  his  own  to  trust  in  and  enjoy,  the  Infinite  and 

ever-blessed  God! When  flesh  and  heart  shall  fail  us,  and  all  of 

earth  shall  be  fading  fast  away  from  our  mortal  vision,  there  will  be 
at  least  one  hour  in  which  it  will  be  more  to  us  than  all  the  universe 
besides  to  have  this  God  as  our  own ! 


ZEPHANIAH, 


INTRODUCTION". 

Of  this  prophet,  his  own  introduction  gives  us  the  names  of  his 
immediate  ancestors  through  four  generations,  of  whom,  however, 
nothing  is  known  to  us  certainly  except  their  names.  It  gives  also 
the  much  more  important  statement  that  this  word  of  the  Lord 
came  to  him  in  the  days  of  Josiah,  king  of  Judah.  Josiah's  reign 
of  thirty-one  years  fell,  b.  c.  642-611.  A  careful  comparison  of  this 
Book  of  Zephaniah,  with  the  history  of  Josiah's  reign,  as  found,  2 
Kings  chapters  22  and  23,  and  yet  more  fully  2  Chron.,  chapters  34 
and  35,  will  throw  yet  more  light  upon  the  precise  date  of  his 
writings,  and  upon  the  much  more  important  point  of  its  definite 

aim  and  purpose. Let  it  he  home  in  mind  that  after  the  great 

reformation  wrought  hy  Hezekiah  with  the  aid  of  Isaiah  and  other 
prophets  during  his  reign  of  twenty-nine  years,  a  fearful  relapse 
followed  during  Manasseh's  long  reign  of  fifty-five  years  ;  that  the 
hrief  history  sets  forth  in  very  strong  terms  the  horrible  influence 
of  this  wicked  king  who  "  made  Jerusalem  and  Judah  do  worse 
than  the  heathen  "  (2  Chron.  33  :  9)  ;  that  his  repentance  occurring 
late  in  life,  while  it  may  have  saved  his  own  soul  in  answer  to  a  godly 
father's  prayers,  yet  seems  scarcely  to  have  at  all  arrested  the  strong 
currents  of  national  wickedness ;  that  his  son  Amon,  reigning  two 
years  most  wickedly,  and  then  losing  his  life  hy  conspiracy  among 
his  own  servants,  must  have  left  the  nation  yet  waxing  worse  and 
worse ;  and  then  that  Josiah,  coming  to  the  throne  at  the  tender 
age  of  eight  years,  began  to  seek  after  the  God  of  his  fathers  at  the 
age  of  sixteen,  commenced  a  vigorous  reform  yet  four  years  later, 
12 


266  ZEPHANIAH.— CHAP.  I. 

i.  e.,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  which  was  the  twelfth  year  of  his  reign, 
and  had  gone  over  the  work  with  commendable  thoroughness  at  the 
end  of  six  years'  labor,  i.  e.,  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  his  reign. 
That  was  the  era  of  a  remarkable  passover,  kept  with  great  solem- 
nity and  with  hopeful  results.  But  the  roots  of  wickedness  had  gone 
deep  into  the  national  life.  Hence  this  reform,  as  to  the  mass  of 
the  nation,  could  not  have  penetrated  much  beneath  the  surface. 

This  reign  of  the  good  Josiah  was  the  Lord's  last  call  of  the 

nation  to  repentance.  Toward  this  result,  Zephaniah  and  Jere- 
miah lent  their  aid — the  latter  beginning  to  prophesy  in  the  thir- 
teenth year  of  Josiah,  and  the  former  probably  about  the  same  time. 
Zephaniah  (1 :  4)  predicts — "  I  will  cut  off  the  remnant  of  Baal  from 
this  place,"  &c,  and  the  history  states  (2  Chron.  84 :  3,  4)  that 
Josiah  began  this  very  work  in  his  twelfth  year,  and  closed  it  in  his 
eighteenth.  It  may  also  be  noted  that  Zephaniah  (2  :  13-15)  pre- 
dicts the  fall  of  Nineveh,  which  occurred  b.  c.  625 — i.  <?.,  in  the 

seventeenth  year  of  Josiah. It  was  to  aid  King  Josiah  in  his  great 

work  of  reforming  the  nation  and  of  saving  it  from  ruin  under 
the  long-accumulating  wrath  of  God,  that  Zephaniah  was  commis- 
sioned to  reiterate  the  solemn  declarations  of  Jehovah — "I  will 
utterly  consume  this  whole  land  " — especially  every  vestige  of  its 
idolatry,  and  not  sparing  its  fearfully  corrupt  and  wicked  people. 
This  is  the  one  great  thought  throughout  the  first  chapter.  The 
next  chapter  heightens  the  force  of  this  dread  decree  by  assuring 
the  people  that  the  adjacent  nations  sunk  low  in  general  corruption 
and  idol  worship,  were  also  doomed  to  fearful  devastations — the 
Philistines,  Moab,  Amnion,  Ethiopia,  and  Assyria,  with  her  proud 
capital,  Nineveh.  In  this  general  sweep  of  desolating  judgments, 
Judah  could  by  no  means  hope  to  escape,  save  by  earnest  and  thor- 
ough repentance  before  God. Chapter  3  sets  forth    yet   more 

fully  the  extreme  corruption  of  her  prophets,  priests,  and  princes, 
but  closes  with  merciful  promises  of  salvation  in  a  future  day  for 
the  remnant  of  his  people. 


CHAPTER    I. 

Foe  the  general  scope  of  this  chapter,  the  reader  is  referred  to 
2  Kings  23  :  26,  27.  Closely  following  a  very  full  account  of  the 
great  reformation  effected  by  Josiah,  the  historian  says:  "Notwith- 
standing, the  Lord  turned  not  from  the  fierceness  of  his  great  wrath 


ZEPHANIAH.— CHAP.  I.  267- 

wherewith  his  anger  was  kindled  against  Judah,  because  of  all  the 
provocations  that  Manasseh  had  provoked  him  withal.  And  the 
Lord  said,  "  I  will  remove  Judah  also  out  of  my  sight,  as  I  have 
removed  Israel,  and  will  cast  off  this  city  Jerusalem  which  I  have 
chosen,  and  the  house  of  which  I  said,  My  name  shall  be  there." 

1.  The  word  of  the  Loed  which  came  unto  Zepha- 
niah  the  son  of  Cnshi,  the  son  of  Geclaliah,  the  son  of 
Amariah,  the  son  of  Hizkiah,  in  the  clays  of  Josiah  the 
son  of  Anion,  king  of  Judah. 

2.  I  will  utterly  consume  all  things  from  off  the 
land,  saith  the  Loed. 

3.  I  will  consume  man  and  beast ;  I  will  consume 
the  fowls  of  the  heaven,  and  the  fishes  of  the  sea,  and 
the  stumbling-blocks  with  the  wicked ;  and  I  will  cut 
off  man  from  off  the  land,  saith  the  Loed. 

See  the  general  introduction.  The  stumbling-blocks  are  here, 
the  idol-gods  which  had  proved  such  a  stumbling-block  of  ruin  to  the 
people.  This  shows  that  the  reformation  under  Josiah  entirely 
failed  to  save  the  land  from  its  sins,  and  hence,  from  its  deserved 
and  fearful  doom. 

4.  I  will  also  stretch  out  mine  hand  upon  Judah 
and  upon  all  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  ;  and  I  will 
cut  off  the  remnant  of  Baal  from  this  place,  and  the 
name  of  the  Chemarims  with  the  priests ; 

God  would  utterly  finish  the  destruction  of  Baal,  including  the 
idols,  their  priests,  and  their  worshippers,  and  would  exterminate 
the  very  "  name  of  the  Chemarims."  This  word — meaning  priest, 
as  one  who  goes  about  in  black  or  mourning,  an  ascetic — came  from 

Syria,  and  was  always  applied  by  the  Jews  to  the  priests  of  idols. 

The  history  (2  Kings  23 :  5)  states  that  Josiah  put  down  the  Chem- 
arims, whom  the  kings  of  Judah  had  ordained  to  burn  incense  in  the 
high  places,"  &c. ;  but  ultimately,  the  Lord,  by  the  long  captivity  in 
Babylon,  made  much  more  thorough  work  in  rooting  them  out 
from  among  his  people  and  burying  their  very  name  in  oblivion. 
The  last  words  of  the  verse,  "  with  the  priests,"  refers  to  Jew- 
ish priests — probably  such  as  professed  to  serve  the  true  God,  but 
had  apostatized  into  idol-worship. 

5.  And  them  that  worship  the  host  of  heaven  upon 
the  house-tops ;  and  them  that  worship  and  that  swear 
by  the  Loed,  and  that  swear  by  Malcham  ; 

6.  And  them  that  are  turned  back  from  the  Loed  ; 
and  those  that  have  not  sought  the  Loed,  nor  inquired 
for  him. 


268 


ZEPHANIAH.— CHAP.  I. 


"  The  host  of  heaven  "  were  the  heavenly  bodies,  the  sim,  moon, 
stars,  and  planets.  This  form  of  idolatry,  Sabianism  (from  Saba  *) 
(used  for  the  host  of  heaven),  was  very  ancient,  and  widely  extended 
throughout  the  East.  The  worship  was  oifered  on  the  house-tops, 
possibly  for  secrecy,  but  more  probably  for  the  sake  of  a  better  view  of 
the  objects  of  their  worship. The  next  class  of  worshippers,"  wor- 
ship, swearing  by  the  Lord  and  swearing  by  their  king  " — a  term 
here  supposed  to  refer  to  Moloch.  That  is,  they  mix  together  the 
ostensible  worship  of  Jehovah  with  the  real  worship  of  Moloch, 

whom  they  practically  recognized  as  their  king. To  swear  by 

Jehovah  is  to  recognize  his  supreme  divinity,  at  least  professedly. 
They  rendered  the  same  recognition  to  Moloch  also.  Of  course 
such  men  render  no  true  worship  to  Jehovah,  and  he  dooms  them 

to  fall  with  the  guiltiest  idolaters. V.  6  describes  them  in  more 

general  terms — all  who  have  turned  back,  having  once  professed  to 
serve  him,  and  those  who  have  not  sought  him — in  every  age  a  great 
and  fearfully  guilty  class. 

7.  Hold  thy  peace  at  tlie  presence  of  the  Lord  God  : 
for  the  day  of  the  Lord  is  at  hand :  for  the  Lord  hath 
prepared  a  sacrifice,  he  hath  hid  his  guests. 

"Hold  thy  peace  before  the  face  of  the  Lord  God"  enjoins 
silence  in  the  spirit  of  profound  reverence  and  solemn  awe.  See  a 
similar  sentiment,  Amos  6:  10.  The  reason  assigned  is,  "because 
the  day  of  the  Lord  is  near,"  a  day  of  judgment  on  the  people. 
"  The  Lord  hath  prepared  a  sacrifice  " — here  in  the  sense  of  a  great 
slaughter,  as  in  Isa.  34 :  6 :  "  The  Lord  hath  a  sacrifice  in  Bozrah, 
and  a  great  slaughter  in  the  land  of  Idumea."  The  original  word 
rendered  "  bid,"  t  means  to  sanctify,  but  here  in  the  sense  in  which 
war  was  declared  with  religious  solemnities,  and  the  warriors  prac- 
tically sworn  in   and  consecrated  to  their   work. The  Lord's 

"  guests  " — his  called  ones,  as  the  original  word  means — are  here,  mot 
men  invited  to  dine  at  a  festival,  but  those  whom  he  had  called  in 
his  providence  to  be  the  executioners  of  his  vengeance  on  the 
wicked  in  this  great  slaughter — in  the  case,  the  Chaldeans. 

8.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  day  of  the  Lord's 
sacrifice,  that  I  will  punish  the  princes,  and  the  king's 
children,  and  all  such  as  are  clothed  with  strange  ap- 
parel. 

Royalty  in  Judah  had  been  deep  in  guilt  and  should  be  first  in 

punishment. In  the  phrase,  "strange  apparel,"  strange  does  not 

mean  uncouth  or  surprising,  but  foreign.  Indeed,  the  words 
"  strange  "  and  "stranger  "  in  our  Bible  always  means  foreign,  per- 
taining to  Gentiles  and  not  to  Jews.  The  idea  here  is  that  the 
adoption  and  use  of  the  foreign  costume  in  dress  indicated  apostasy 


# 


K3S.  f  mp\m 


ZEPHAMAH.— CHAP.  I.  2G0. 

from  God  and  a  lovo  for  the  institutions  and  customs  of  the  heathen. 
Hence  it  marked  men  out  for  special  plagues  from  the  Lord. 

9.  In  tlie  same  day  also  will  I  punish  all  those  that 
leap  on  the  threshold,  which  fill  their  masters'  houses 
with  violence  and  deceit. 

The  phrase,  "those  that  leap  on  the  threshold,"  is  explained 
variously  by  commentators.  Some  suppose  an  allusion  to  the  wor- 
shippers of  Dagon  (1  Sam.  5 :  4,  5),  who,  because  their  helpless  idol 
fell  before  the  ark  of  God,  and  broke  his  neck  over  the  threshold, 
took  care  forever  after  not  to  step  on  the  threshold  but  over  it.  I 
see  no  analogy  between  this  case  and  that.  Here  are  persons  who 
leap,  not  over,  but  upon  the  threshold.  The  parallel  clause — "who 
fill  their  masters'  houses  with  violence  and  deceit" — i.  c,  with 
goods,  property,  obtained  by  violence  and  deceit,  shows  that  robbers 
are  thought  of.  nenco  the  probable  sense  of  leaping  upon  the 
threshold  is,  invading  the  sanctity  of  other  men's  houses  ;  violently 
leaping  upon  and  over  their  thresholds,  to  enter  then*  houses  for 
robbery  and  spoil. 

10.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  saith  the 
Lord,  that  there  shall  he  the  noise  of  a  cry  from  the  fish 
gate,  and  an  howling  from  the  second,  and  a  great  crash- 
ing from  the  hills. 

The  city  is  here  thought  of  as  attacked  by  Nebuchadnezzar. 
The  panic  and  the  outcries  of  terror  mark  the  progress  of  the  con- 
queror through  the  city.  First,  "  the  noise  of  a  cry  from  the  fish 
gate."  To  this  gate  we  find  allusions  in  2  Chron.  33  :  14,  and  Neh. 
3  :  3,  and  12 :  39.  Doubtless  it  was  the  gate  through  which  fish 
were  brought  into  the  city  for  market,  and  probably  its  direction 
was  toward  the  lake  of  Tiberias  and  the  Jordan,  where  fishing  was 
certainly  common  in  the  New  Testament  age.  At  this  point  the 
Chaldean  army  would  most  naturally  strike  the  city. "  A  howl- 
ing or  wailing  from  the  second  " — not  the  second  gate,  but  the  second 
city,  i.  e.,  a  later  addition  to  the  city  (see  Neh.  11 :  9),  very  prob- 
ably the  one  built  by  Manasseh,  as  recorded,  2  Chron.  33  :  14:  "  He 
built  a  wall  without  the  city  of  David,  on  the  west  side  of  Gihon, 
in  the  valley,  even  to  the  entering  in  at  the  fish  gate,  and  compassed 
about  Ophel  (a  hill  so  called),  and  raised  it  up  a  very  great  height," 
&c.  The  location  of  this  new  or  second  city  shows  that  the  Chal- 
dean army  would  strike  it  next  in  order  after  entering  at  the  fish 

gate. "  A  great  crashing  from  the  hills  "  refers  to  hills  within 

the  city;  Zion,  Moriah,  Ophel,  &c.     The  echoes  of  crash  after  crash 
of  ruin  from  these  hills  would  be,  to  Jewish  ears,  terrific. 

11.  Howl,  ye  inhabitants  of  Maktesh,  for  all  the  mer- 
chant people  are  cut  down ;  all  they  that  bear  silver  are 
cut  off. 


270  ZEPHANIAH.— CHAP.  I. 

"  Maktesh "  means  the  mortar,  the  article  being  prefixed,  which 
shows  that  it  is  not  a  proper  name  generally  known.  It  is  plausibly 
supposed  to  refer  to  some  valley,  mortar-shaped,  and  probably  the 
Tyropoeon,  a  valley  within  the  city,  occupied  largely  by  merchants. 
— The  reason  for  their  wailing  is  that  "  all  the  merchants  are  cut  off" 
— "  all  who  are  heavy  laden  with  silver,"  for  this  is  the  sense  of  the 
Hebrew  word.  Those  who  were  not  only  rich,  but  rich  in  silver, 
would  suffer  most  severely  in  the  sack  of  the  city. It  is  tacitly  im- 
plied that  these  merchants  are  men  of  not  the  best  repute;  "people 
of  Canaan"  is  their  designation  here.  Hos.  12:7,  8,  shows  that 
the  merchants  of  that  day  were  not  held  in  the  highest  esteem  by 
the  Lord.  Their  fraudulent  habits  are  repeatedly  rebuked  by  the 
prophets. 

12.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  at  that  time,  that  I 
will  search  Jerusalem  with  candles,  and  punish  the  men 
that  are  settled  on  their  lees:  that  say  in  their  hearts, 
The  Loed  will  not  do  good,  neither  will  he  do  evil. 

"  Searching  Jerusalem  with  candles  "  is  an  expressive  figure,  to 
show  that  none  could  secrete  themselves  in  recesses  so  dark  as  to 

escape  the  vigilance  and  vengeance  of  Jehovah. "  Settled  on  their 

lees,"  alludes  to  wine  standing  long  on  its  sediment,  and  not 
racked  off  into  another  vessel.  The  primary  sense  of  the  verb  is  to 
settle  down  in  the  oriental  manner  of  sitting  upon  one's  ankles, 
with  the  feet  bent  under  the  person  (see  Jer.  48  :  11).  It  de- 
scribes those  who  have  repelled  all  fear  of  retribution  from  God  for 
their  sins,  and  have  gone  on  quietly  in  their  great  iniquities,  as  if 
there  were  no  God  above ;  who  say  in  their  hearts,  "  The  Lord  will 
do  neither  good  nor  evil,  will  neither  reward  the  righteous  nor  punish 
the  Avicked."  This  is  the  cherished  feeling  of  myriads  of  heathen 
minds  ;  witness  the  Budhists  of  the  East,  who  think  of  God  only  as 
reposing  in  eternal  sleep  in  some  indefinitely  remote  region  of  the 
universe,  never  concerning  himself  with  the  moral  conduct  of  his 
creatures. 

13.  Therefore,  their  goods  shall  become  a  booty,  and 
their  houses  a  desolation  :  they  shall  also  build  houses, 
but  not  inhabit  them ;  and  they  shall  plant  vineyards, 
but  not  drink  the  wine  thereof. 

The  allusion  to  their  "goods"  shows  that  the  prophet  still  has 
in  view  the  wealthy  classes  who  have  groAvn  rich  through  fraud 
or  violence. 

14.  The  great  day  of  the  Loud  is  near,  it  is  near, 
and  hasteth  greatly,  even  the  voice  of  the  day  of  the 
Loed  :  the  mighty  man  shall  cry  there  bitterly. 

15.  That  day  is  a  day  of  wrath,  a  day  of  trouble  and 


ZEPHANIAH— CHAP.  II.  271 

distress,  a  clay  of  wasteness  and  desolation,  a  day  of 
darkness  and  gloominess,  a  day  of  clouds  and  thick 
darkness, 

16.  A  day  of  the  trumpet  and  alarm  against  the 
fenced  cities,  and  against  the  high  towers. 

This  great  and  awful  clay  of  the  Lord,  so  graphically  described, 
is  the  period  of  the  Chaldean  invasion.  The  "  mighty  man  who 
shall  cry  there  bitterly,"  is  the  warrior  to  whom  the  city  intrusts 
its  defence,  but  who  will  find  himself  utterly  inadequate  to  the  task. 
He  can  only  wail  in  the  anguish  of  his  soul  over  his  complete  over- 
throw. 

17.  And  I  will  bring  distress  upon  men,  that^  they 
shall  walk  like  blind  men,  because  they  have  sinned 
against  the  Lord  :  and  their  blood  shall  be  poured  out 
as  dust,  and  their  flesh  as  the  dung. 

18.  Neither  their  silver  nor  their  gold  shall  be  able 
to  deliver  them  in  the  day  of  the  Lord's  wrath ;  but  the 
whole  land  shall  be  devoured  by  the  fire  of  his  jealousy : 
for  he  shall  make  even  a  speedy  riddance  of  all  them 
that  dwell  in  the  land. 

Under  the  great  and  universal  distress,  men  shall  act  as  if  be- 
wildered, groping  about  as  blind  men,  equally  void  of  wisdom  and 
of  power  for  the  emergency. The  conclusion  of  this  fearful  de- 
nunciation of  doom  is,  that  God  will  make  a  sweeping  destruction, 
even  a  hastened  one,  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  land.  So  it  came 
to  pass. 


OHAPTEE    II. 

The  scope  of  this  chapter  was  spoken  of  in  the  general  introduc- 
tion to  this  book.  It  aims  to  enforce  repentance :  (1.)  By  the  short- 
ness of  time  yet  remaining  before  otherwise  the  shafts  of  vengeance 
must  fall.  (2.)  By  the  fact  that  desolating  judgments  were  coming 
upon  other  nations  contiguous.  This  fact  should  assure  them  that 
the  Lord  was  about  to  take  in  hand  the  work  of  retribution  upon 
guilty  nations  on  a  broad  scale  ;  that  he  had  his  agencies  in  readi- 
ness ;  and  that  Judah  and  Jerusalem  could  by  no  means  hope  to 
escape. 

1.  Gather  yourselves  together,  yea,  gather  together, 
O  nation  not  desired ; 

The  connection  shows  that  this  verse,  and  the  two  that  follow 
it,  were  addressed  to  Judah,  exhorting  her  to  immediate  repentance 
and  righteousness  as  her  last  hope.     With  this  view  of  the  course 


272  ZEPHANIAH.— CHAP.  II. 

of  thought,  I  find  no  appropriate  sense  in  the  rendering  of  the  first 
verb,  "gather  yourselves  together."  The  question  must  he  met, 
Tor  what  purpose  ?  "What  would  he  the  use  of  merely  u  gathering 
together  ? "  Better  than  this  rendering  is  that  of  Gesenius  :  "  Col- 
lect your  thoughts;  consider  your  ways;  "  examine  yourselves  and 

think  of  your  sins. Still  better  is  Henderson's  derivation  of  the 

verb  from  another  though  a  cognate  root,*  in  the  sense  to  bend,  to 
bow  low  before  God,  in  repentance  and  profound  humiliation  for  your 

sins. "O    nation    not    desired,"   Gesenius    renders,    "nations 

never  pale  with  shame,"  and  the  sense  of  conscious  guilt.  But  the 
sense  of  longing  after  and  greatly  desiring  is  much  better  sustained 
by  usage.  I  therefore  adopt  this  rendering,  according  to  our  Eng- 
lish Bible,  only  giving  its  strongest  negative  power  to  "not"  so 
that  it  shall  imply  that  so  far  from  loving  and  longing  for  this 
nation  in  its  present  moral  state,  God  altogether  loathed  them. 
He  could  have  no  other  feeling  toward  them  but  that  of  loathing 
while  they  were  so  intensely  corrupt.  Hence  the  urgency  of  the 
call  to  humiliation  and  to  a  new  heart  and  life. 

2.  Before  the  decree  bring  forth,  "before  the  clay  pass 
as  the  chaff,  before  the  fierce  anger  of  the  Lord  come 
upon  you,  before  the  day  of  the  Lord's  anger  come  upon 
you.  " 

The  decree,  i.  e.,  the  purpose  of  God  to  destroy,  is  thought  of 
here  as  pregnant  with  a  sure  execution,  and  soon  to  "  bring  forth." 
Before  this  execution  of  the  Lord's  wrath,  so  near  at  hand,  there 
was  a  short  moment  for  repentance.  The  prophet  exhorts  the  peo- 
ple to  seize  and  improve  it. In  the  clause  "  before  the  day  pass 

as  the  chafF,"  Henderson  explains  "  day,"  not  as  the  period  of 
judgment,  but  as  the  short  space  for  repentance  lying  yet  before  it. 
But  the  uniform  usage  of  the  word  "  day,"  fourteen  times  repeated 
in  a  connection  like  this,  within  the  first  chapter,  and  again  in  this 
verse,  in  every  instance  in  the  sense  of  the  period  of  the  judgment, 
seems  to  forbid  his  construction.  I  prefer  to  explain  it :  "  Before  that 
day  of  judgment  shall  sweep  along  as  the  chaff  flies" — swiftly  and 
waiting  for  none. 

3.  Seek  ye  the  Loud,  all  ye  meek  of  the  earth,  which 
have  wrought  his  judgment ;  seek  righteousness,  seek 
meekness :  it  may  be  ye  shall  be  hid  in  the  day  of  the 
Lord's  anger. 

Here  is  the  point  of  the  exhortation,  the  duty  to  which 
they  are  exhorted.  All  the  meek,  the  humble  ones  of  the  land, 
the  only  hopeful  class — all  those  who  have  obeyed  the  Lord's 
revealed  will  ("judgments  "  here  in  the  sense  of  revealed  statutes), 
are  implored  'to  seek  the  Lord,  and    also  to  seek  righteousness 

*  l£5ip   instead  of  u'wp. 


ZEPHANIAH.— CHAP.  II.  273 

and  a  deeper  humiliation  ("  meekness '"),  in  the  hope  that  so 
they  may  be  hidden  from  danger  in  the  day  of  the  Lord's  anger. 
It  could  not  be  regarded  as  certain  that  they  would  be  exempt  from 
all  harm,  even  though,  penitent,  for  sometimes  the  righteous  must 
suffer  (in  this  world,  not  the  next)  with  the  wicked.  Hence  the 
qualified  form  of  the  statement,  "  it  may  be,  that  ye  shall  be  hid." 

4.  For  Gaza  shall  be  forsaken,  and  Ashkelon  a  deso- 
lation :  they  shall  drive  ont  Ashdod  at  the  noon-day,  and 
Ekron  shall  be  rooted  up. 

With  this  prediction  of  desolation  on  the  cities  of  the  Philistines, 

compare  Amos  1 :  6-8. The  Hebrew  verbs  which  express  the 

do*m  of  Gaza  and  Ekron  form  a  paronomasia  with  those  names.  If 
the  word  gazee  meant  forsaken, -we  might  imitate  the  Hebrew  by 

saying  Gaza  shall  be  gazced. These  paranomasias  are  not  merely 

beauties  of  style ;  they  are  utilities  as  well,  for  the  doom  of  a  city 
so  expressed  could  not  be  forgotten.  It  would  be  riveted  in  the 
mind  with  the  name  itself. 

5.  Woe  unto  the  inhabitants  of  the  sea  coast,  the 
nation  of  the  Cherethites !  the  word  of  the  Loud  is 
against  you ;  O  Canaan,  the  land  of  the  Philistines,  I 
will  even  destroy  thee,  that  there  shall  be  no  inhabitant. 

6.  And  the  sea  coast  shall  be  dwellings  and  cottages 
for  shepherds,  and  folds  for  flocks. 

This  "  sea  coast "  is  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Mediterranean,  and 
the  western  border  of  Canaan,  along  which  the  Philistines  (Chere- 
thites)— to  some  extent  a  maritime  people — were  located.     All  that 

region  would  fall  before  the  Chaldean  power.     It  did. The  sea 

coast  shall  be  not  "dwellings  and  cottages,"  but  " pastures  with 
shepherds'  cisterns,  and  folds  for  flocks." 

7.  And  the  coast  shall  be  for  the  remnant  of  the 
house  of  Judah;  they  shall  feed  thereupon:  in  the 
houses  of  Ashkelon  shall  they  lie  down  in  the  evening : 
for  the  Loud  their  God  shall  visit  them,  and  turn  away 
their  captivity. 

This  looks  forward  to  the  better  days,  when  the  Lord  should  re- 
store his  captive  people,  and  they,  returning,  should  find  their  old 
enemies,  the  Philistines,  no  longer  there,  but  should  themselves 
enjoy  quietly  the  country  of  the  sea  coast. 

8.  I  have  heard  the  reproach  of  Moab,  and  the  re 
vilings  of  the  children  of  Amnion,  whereby  they  have 
reproached  my  people,  and  magnified  themselves  against 
their  border. 

12* 


274: 


ZEPHANIAH.— CHAP.  II. 


God  had  heard  what  Moab  and  Ammon  had  said  in  contempt 
of  Israel  and  of  Israel's  God,  and  would  now  remember  it  and  visit 

them  with  retribution. "Magnified    themselves  against  their 

border  "  has  the  sense  of  carrying  themselves  proudly  and  in  an 
overbearing  way  along  and  over  their  border — with  reference, 
doubtless,  to  hostile  encroachments  upon  Jewish  territory. 

9.  Therefore,  as  I  live,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the 
God  of  Israel,  Surely  Moab  shall  be  as  Sodom,  and  the 
children  of  Amnion  as  Gomorrah,  even  the  breeding  of 
nettles  and  salt-pits,  and  a  perpetual  desolation :  the  res- 
idue of  my  people  shall  spoil  them,  and  the  remnant  of 
my  people  shall  possess  them.  m 

This  is  the  doom  of  Moab  and  Ammon.  How  fearfully  it  has 
been  put  in  execution!    For  the  past  twenty-four  centuries,  the 

world  has  scarcely  known  where  those  nations  once  stood ! In 

the  phrase  "the  breeding  of  nettles,"  the  Hebrew  gives  the  sense, 
the  possession  of  nettles — a  place  which  nettles  shall  occupy  as  all 
their  own. 

10.  This  shall  they  have  for  their  pride,  because  they 
have  reproached  and  magnified  themselves  against  the 
people  of  the  Loed  of  hosts. 

So  God  will  avenge  himself  on  those  who  reproach  Mm  through 
their  reproach  of  his  people. 

11.  The  Loed  will  he  terrible  unto  them  ;  for  he  will 
famish  all  the  gods  of  the  earth ;  and  men  shall  worship 
him,  every  one  from  his  place,  even  all  the  isles  of  the 
heathen. 

The  course  of  thought  here  should  be  noted.  God  becomes 
terrible  to  idolatrous  nations  when  he  famishes,  i.  e.,  wastes  away 
and  destroys  their  gods ;  for  when  a  nation's  gods  are  gone,  what 
have  they  more? On  the  other  hand,  and  as  a  result  of  destroy- 
ing both  the  idol  gods  of  those  nations  and  their  incorrigible  wor- 
shippers as  well,  men  everywhere,  over  all  the  isles  of  the  Gentiles, 
shall  worship  the  true  God.  "  The  isles  of  the  nations  "  embrace 
all  remote  countries  lying  beyond  the  sea. 

12.  Ye  Ethiopians  also,  ye  shall  be  slain  by  my 
sword. 

These  Ethiopians  are  those  of  Africa — probably  including  the 
Egyptians.  They  were  destined  to  fall  before  the  same  all-devour- 
ing Chaldean  sword. 

13.  And  he  will  stretch  out  his  hand  against  the 
north,  and  destroy  Assyria ;  and  will  make  Mneveh  a 
desolation,  and  dry  like  a  wilderness. 


ZEPHANIAH.— CHAP.  III.  275 

See  Nineveh,  doomed  in  like  manner  (Mium,  chap.  2  and  3). 

14.  And  flocks  shall  lie  down  in  the  midst  of  her,  all 
the  beasts  of  the  Rations :  both  the  cormorant  and  the 
bittern  shall  lodge  in  the  upper  lintels  of  it ;  their  voice 
shall  sing  in  the  windows;  desolation  shall  be  in  the 
thresholds :  for  he  shall  uncover  the  cedar  work. 

The  word  rendered  "cormorant"  means  "the  vomiter,"  and  is 
supposed  to  designate  the  pelican.     The  "  bittern  "  is  the  porcupine 

or  hedge-hog,  so  called  from  his  rolling  himself  up. These  shall 

"lie  among  the  capitals"— the  tops  of  the  columns— which  of 
course  are  now  fallen  to  the  ground.  The  columns  are  those  of 
her  ruined  temples  and  palaces. 

15.  This  is  the  rejoicing  city  that  dwelt  carelessly, 
that  said  in  her  heart,  I  am,  and  there  is  none  beside 
me :  how  is  she  become  a  desolation,  a  place  for  beasts 
to  lie  down  in !  every  one  that  passeth  by  her  shall  hiss, 
and  wag  his  hand. 

Thus  great  Nineveh,  once  proud  and  joyous,  is  doomed  to  liean 
utter  waste,  the  scorn  of  passers-by.  She  was  doubtless  standing 
in  her  strength  and  glory  when  this  servant  and  seer  of  the  Lord 
uttered  and  penned  these  terrible  words.  The  nations  of  the  earth 
have  had.  ample  occasion  to  verify  their  truth  during  more  than  two 
thousand  years. 


CHAPTER    III. 

Tnis  chapter  opens  with  further  statements  of  the  guilt  and 
doom  of  Jerusalem  (vs.  1-4)-;  of  God's  justice  in  her  punishment 
(v.  5) ;  of  his  judgments  on  other  nations  (vs.  G-8)  ;  then  turning 
to  words  of  mercy,  the  Lord  promises  to  convert  the  nations  (vs. 
9-10),  and  to  restore  and  bless  most  abundantly  the  remnant  of 
his  people  (vs.  11-20). 

1.  Woe  to  her  that  is  filthy  and  polluted,  to  the  op- 
pressing city ! 

2.  She  obeyed  not  the  voice ;  she  received  not  cor- 
rection ;  she  trusted  not  in  the  Loed  ;  she  drew  not  near 
to  her  G  od. 

The  entire  strain  of  remark  shows  that  this  passage  speaks  of 
Jerusalem ;  e.  g.,  that  she  had  heard  the  voice  of  God ;  had  been 
instructed  and  corrected,  yet  in  vain ;  and  that  Jehovah  is  spoken 
of  as  "her  God." The  word  rendered  " filthy,"  means  rebel- 
lious: she  had  polluted  herself  by  her  sins,  especially  by  idolatry, 
and  had  outraged  justice  by  her  oppressions  of  her  own  poor  and 


276  ZEPHANIAH.— CHAP.  III. 

defenceless  people.     Hence  the  wrath  of  God  upon  her. She 

had  also  been  taught  her  duty  by  the  servants  of  the  Lord,  espe- 
cially in  later  times  by  his  prophets ;  yet  she  would  neither  obey 
God  nor  trust  him. 

3.  Her  princes  within  her  are  roaring  lions;  her 
judges  are  evening  wolves ;  they  gnaw  not  the  bones 
till  the  morrow. 

Her  princes  and  judges  had  been  fearfully  corrupt.  Those  who 
should  have  withstood  the  influx  of  vice  had  been  themselves  ex- 
amples and  ministers  of  all  wickedness.- — "Roaring  lions,"  in  the 
sense  of  being  mighty  in  sin,  bold  and  "rampant  in  their  iniquity. 

"Evening  wolves,"  who  in  oriental  countries  go  about  in  the 

darkness,  making  night  hideous  with  their  howl  and  perilous  by 
their  ferocity,  stand  here  to  represent  those  judges  who  make  an 
utter  wreck  of  justice  and  peace,  prostrating  beneath  their  feet  the 

very  interests  they  are  sworn  to  sustain. These  (human)  wolves 

are  voracious  ;  "they  do  not  gnaw  the  bones  in  the  morning;  "  so 
the  Hebrew  reads,  and  implies,  not  that  they  leave  all,  but  that  they 
leave  nothing  till  the  morrow.  Their  voracity  saves  not  even  the 
bones  till  morning. 

4.  Her  prophets  are  light  and  treacherous  persons : 
her  priests  have  polluted  the  sanctuary,  they  have  done 
violence  to  the  law. 

"  Her  prophets  are  light,"  in  the  sense  of  vain-glorious,  proud, 
and  boastful — bearing  on  their  hearts  no  sense  of  their  responsi- 
bility. The  priests  seem  for  the  most  part  to  have  gone  down  in 
degeneracy  and  sin  with  the  people  by  at  least  an  equal  pace.  The 
Lord  had  some  prophets  that  were  thoroughly  faithful  and  bold  in 
rebuking  sin ;  yet  the  history  shows  that  under  the  wicked  kings, 
false  prophets  were  never  wanting  who  claimed  to  speak  for  God, 
but  who  really  prostituted  the  whole  influence  of  the  prophetio 
name,  and  of  God's  name  too,  so  far  as  they  could,  to  the  cause  of 
vice  and  idolatry. 

5.  The  just  Loed  is  in  the  midst  thereof;  he  will  not 
do  iniquity :  every  morning  doth  he  bring  his  judgment 
to  light,  he  faileth  not;  but  the  unjust  knoweth  no 
shame. 

Note  the  designed  antithesis  between  the  flagrantly  unjust 
judges,  false  prophets,  and  degenerate  priests  on  the  one  hand ;  and 
on  the  other,  the  just  Lord,  never  doing  iniquity,  bringing  forth  his 

just  decisions  every  morning  without  fail. Courts  were  held  in 

the  morning  hour. Those  unjust,  wicked  men  are  shameless — lost 

to  all  compunction  of  conscience  for  wrong-doing.  This  fact  shows 
that  the  moral  tone  of  public  sentiment  was  deplorably  low. 


ZEPHANIAH.— CHAP.  III.  277 

G.  I  have  cut  off  the  nations :  their  towers  are  deso- 
late ;  I  made  their  streets  waste,  that  none  passeth  by : 
their  cities  are  destroyed,  so  that  there  is  no  man,  that 
there  is  none  inhabitant. 

This  is  thought,  with  good  reason,  to  have  special  reference  to  the 
calamities  brought  by  a  great  Scythian  invasion  upon  most  of  the 
nations  of  Western  Asia  during  the  reign  of  Josiah.      From  these 

evils,  Judah,  under  his  wise  and  righteous  reign,  was  exempt. 

In  seasons  of  great  public  danger,  travel  must  cease,  and  none  would 
pass  along  the  highways.     (See  Judg.  5  :  G.) 

7.  I  said,  Surely  thou  wilt  fear  me,  thou  wilt  receive 
instruction ;  so  their  dwelling  should  not  be  cut  off, 
howsoever  I  punished  them :  but  they  rose  early,  and 
corrupted  all  their  doings. 

At  this  time  the  Lord  said:  "My  people"  will  appreciate  this 
merciful  protection  afforded  to  them  :  they  "  will  fear  me  and  re- 
ceive instruction."  In  case  they  did  so,  "their  dwelling  "(in  the 
sense  of  place  of  rest  and  safety)  "should  not  be  cut  off,  according 
as  I  have  visited  all  others  with  judgments."  The  English,  "how- 
soever I  punished  them,"  fails  to  give  the  true  sense,  which  is  this  : 
that  if  his  kind  protection  of  them  against  the  Scythians  had  moved 
them  to  gratitude,  obedience  and  trust,  he  would  not  now  punish 
them  as  he  had  done  other  nations.  I  prefer  to  adhere  to  the  usual 
sense  of  the  verb  here  used,  viz.,  to  visit  with  judgment,  rather  than 
to  give  it  (with  Dr.  Henderson)  the  new  and  doubtful  sense  of  ap- 
pointing for  punishment. "  But  they  rose  early  and  corrupted  all 

their  doings  " — as  men  who  work  with  their  might  and  with  earnest 
heart,  are  up  betimes  in  the  morning.  It  is  noticeable  that  God  rep- 
resents his  own  earnestness  in  efforts  to  save  them  by  the  same  im- 
pressive figure  (2  Chron.  36  :  15):  "The  Lord  God  of  their  fathers 
sent  to  them  by  his  messengers,  ruing  up  early  in  the  morning  and 
sending,  because  he  had  compassion  on  his  people  and  on  his  dwell- 
ing-place." The  contrast  gives  a  sad  impression  of  their  horrible 
depravity,  but  a  rich  and  exalted  one  of  his  unutterably  tender  com- 
passion and  loving-kindness!  They,  up  early  in  the  morning, 
working  with  might  and  main,  to  do  a  long  and  hard  day's  work  in 
sin  ;  God,  up  betimes  to  press  his  agencies  mightily  to  save  them ! 

8.  Therefore,  wait  ye  upon  me,  saith  the  Lord,  until 
the  day  that  I  rise  up  to  the  prey  :  for  my  determination  & 
to  gather  the  nations,  that  I  may  assemble  the  kingdoms, 
to  pour  upon  them  mine  indignation,  even  all  my  fierce 
anger :  for  all  the  earth  shall  be  devoured  with  the  fire 
of  my  jealousy. 

"  Therefore  "  (in  view  of  all  these  things)  "  wait  ye  for  me  "  (L  e.} 


278  ZEPHANIAH.— CHAP.  III. 

to  fulfil  my  tkreatenings)  "until  the  day  of  my  rising  up  for  the 

prey,  to  spoil  the  nations,  for  this  is  my  purpose." Great  and 

widely  extended  judgments  are  in  the  plan  of  God,  to  fall  on  all 
the  guilty  nations  of  the  earth.  Let  his  people  expect  them  in 
their  time. 

9.  For  then  will  I  turn  to  the  people  a  pure  lan- 
guage, that  they  may  all  call  upon  the  name  of  the 
Lord,  to  serve  him  with  one  consent. 

Here  is  a  reason  for  awaiting  those  judgments,  because  then,  in 
close  connection,  the  Lord  will  convert  the  remnant  of  the  nations 
to  himself.  His  great  judgments  will  prepare  the  way  for  mercies 
no  less  great. "  I  will  turn  to  the  nations  (Gentiles)  a  pure  lan- 
guage"—freed  from  the  very  names  of  idols  (see  Hos.  2  :  17),  and 
from  all  those  terms  that  are  suggestive  of  the  pollutions  and  cor- 
ruptions of  human  depravity.  God  will  give  them  a  new  vocabu- 
lary ;  the  language  of  Zion  will  he  all  new  when  all  men  shall  call 

upon  the  name  of  the  Lord. "To  serve  him  with  one  shoulder," 

is  the  striking  expression  of  the  Hebrew — as  we  might  say,  moving 
on  in  military  phalanx,  shoulder  to  shoulder,  for  soldiers  dress  to 
a  line  by  the  shoulder.  Or  the  phrase  may  allude  to  two  or  more 
men  bearing  the  same  burden  on  their  shoulders,  in  which  case 
they  must  move  accurately  together.  So  in  Zion  should  order  and 
harmony  be  perfect,  resting  on  the  basis  of  having  one  heart  and 
one  soul. 

10.  From  beyond  the  rivers  of  Ethiopia  my  sup- 
pliants, even  the  daughter  of  my  dispersed,  shall  bring 
mine  offering. 

This  must  be  the  African  Ethiopia,  south  of  Egypt,  embosoming 
the  head-waters  of  the  Nile.  Thence  should  suppliants  from  the 
Lord's  scattered  people  come  with  their  offerings  to  Jerusalem. 
The  reader  will  readily  recall  the  case  of  an  "  eunuch  of  great  au- 
thority under  Candace,  queen  of  Ethiopia,  who  came  to  Jerusalem 
to  worship  "  (Acts  8 :  27  ff.),  and  who  went  home  with  more  of  the 
gospel  than  he  had  ever  known  before.  The  case  proves  that  there 
were  some  dispersed  people  there,  probably  Jews,  who  remembered 
Zion,  and  that  a  purer  knowledge  of  God  went  among  them  after 
the  Christian  era.  It  wTould  seem  that  there  have  been  nominal 
Christians  in  Abyssinia  ever  since.  They  were  found  there  by 
Bruce  in  his  travels,  early  in  the  present  century. 

11.  In  that  day  shalt  thou  not  be  ashamed  for  all  thy 
doings,  wherein  thou  hast  transgressed  against  me :  for 
then  I  will  take  away  out  of  the  midst  of  thee  them  that 
rejoice  in  thy  pride,  and  thou  shalt  no  more  be  haughty 
because  of  my  holy  mountain. 

This  cannot  mean  that  they  shall  have  no  sense  of  shame  for  the 


ZEPHANIAH.— CHAP.  III.  279 

sins  of  which  they  are  or  have  been  guilty.  The  Scriptures  and 
Christian  experience  combine  to  teach  that  pardoned  sinners  have 
the  very  keenest  sense  of  sorrow  and  shame  for  their  sins.     (See 

Ezek.  16  :  61-63  and  86  :  31.) The  meaning  here  is  therefore  only 

this  :  that  they  shall  not  be  confounded  before  the  nations  by  God's 
judgments  upon  them  for  their  sins.  They  will  not  sin  as  they  had 
done ;  and  moreover,  God  will  forgive  and  forbear  to  punish.  That 
their  sin  itself  should  mostly  cease — at  least,  their  specially  provok- 
ing, heaven-defying  sins — is  expressly  said  :  "  For  then  I  will  take 
away  out  of  thee  thy  proud,  exulting  ones,  and  man  shall  no  more 
be  haughty  in  my  holy  mountain."  The  Hebrew  has  it  "  w&,"  not 
"because  of." 

12.  I  will  also  leave  in  tlie  midst  of  thee  an  afflicted 
and  poor  people,  and  they  shall  trust  in  the  name  of  the 
Loed. 

The  few  spared  and  surviving,  after  the  many  had  fallen  under 
sore  judgments,  are  blessed  by  what  they  have  suffered,  and  by  what 
they  have  seen  others  suffer ;  and  these  return  to  the  Lord  their 
God.     Of  this  promise  there  have  been  many  fulfilments. 

13.  The  remnant  of  Israel  shall  not  do  iniquity,  nor 
speak  lies;  neither  shall  a  deceitful  tongue  be  fomid  in 
their  mouth :  for  they  shall  feed  and  lie  down,  and 
none  shall  make  them  afraid. 

This  applies  readily  to  the  remnant  restored  from  Babylon,  and 
affirms  their  general  purity  of  character,  greatly  reformed  as  com- 
pared with  the  morals  of  the  nation  before  the  captivity.  It  may 
apply  also  to  subsequent  periods. 

14.  Sing,  O  daughter  of  Zion ;  shont,  O  Israel ;  be 
glad  and  rejoice  with  all  the  heart,  O  daughter  of  Jeru- 
salem. 

This  call  to  great  joy  indicates  that  precious  blessings  are  to  be 
revealed. 

15.  The  Lord  hath  taken  away  thy  judgments,  he 
hath  cast  out  thine  enemy :  the  king  of  Israel,  even  the 
Loud,  is  in  the  midst  of  thee :  thou  shalt  not  see  evil 
any  more. 

"  Hath  taken  away  thy  judgments,"  not  in  the  sense  of  remov- 
ing from  them  the  administration  of  justice  or  the  jurisdiction  of 
his  law,  but  of  terminating  his  inflictions  of  calamity  and  his  retri- 
butions for  their  sin.   The  days  of  her  sore  scourging  had  passed. 

"  He  hath  cleared  away  thine  enemies  from  before  thee  " — perhaps 
with  historical  allusion  to  their  early  days  in  Canaan,  when  the 
Lord  did  not  fully  clear  away  the  Canaanites  and  Philistines.     Now 


230  ZEPHAXIAH.— CHAP.  III. 

lie  will,  and  they  shall  repose  in  quiet — less  tempted  to  sin,  and  less 
annoyed  with  thorns  in  their  side — enemies  within  their  own  bor- 
ders.  Their  king,  Messiah,  the  real  Jehovah,  being  in  the  midst 

of  them  as  Immamiel  (God  with  us),  verily,  "  they  shall  see  evil 
no  more,"  as  compared  with  former  evils. 

16.  Iii  that  clay  it  shall  be  said  to  Jerusalem,  Fear 
thou  not :  and  to  Zion,  Let  not  thine  hands  be  slack. 

"Let  not  thy  hands  be  slack  "  is  said  in  the  sense  of  not  waxing 
feeble  through  despondency  and  unbelief. 

17.  The  Lord  thy  God  in  the  midst  of  thee  is  mighty ; 
he  will  save,  he  will  rejoice  over  thee  with  joy ;  he  will 
rest  in  his  love,  he  will  joy  over  thee  with  singing. 

Her  Lord  is  not  in  the  midst  of  her — his  Zion — as  a  terror  or  a 
scourge,  but  as  a  mighty  one  for  help,  rejoicing  in  her  purity  and 

blessedness. The  phrase  "he  will  rest  in  his  love  "  seems  to 

mean  in  the  original,  "will  be  silent  in  his  love,"  in  the  sense  of 
freely  forgiving  her  sin,  and  henceforth  forbearing  to  speak  of  it  in 
words  of  threatening,  and  to  act  against  it  in  retributive  judgments. 
His  love  is  silent  from  upbraiding  and  chastising,  in  contrast  with 
the  continual  strain  of  rebuke  which  had  beeD  the  common  mani- 
festation of  his  presence  in  their  former  apostasy.  Now,  they  being 
no  longer  apostate,  but  walking  humbly  and  softly  before  God,  he 
takes  the  purest  delight  in  abiding  among  them,  and  silently  enjoys 
their  worship  and  their  responsive  love.  It  is  indeed  a  precious 
thought,  but  is  most  fully  authorized,  that  God  rejoices  in  the  sin- 
cere love  and  worship  of  his  people.  It  is  a  source  of  ineffable  de- 
light to  his  benevolent  heart.  This  doctrine  is  reiterated  with  great 
force  in  this  passage. 

18.  I  will  gather  them  that  are  sorrowful  for  the  sol- 
emn assembly,  who  are  of  thee,  to  whom  the  reproach 
of  it  was  a  burden- 

"Those  who  are  grieved"  (because  of  their  exclusion)  "from 
thy  solemn  festivals,  I  will  gather  home  (they  were  of  thee),  who 
have  borne  reproach  for  her"  (Zion's)  "sake;"  or  the  last  clause 
might  be  read,  "  to  whom  reproach  for  her  sake  was  a  burden." 
The  sentiment  is  that  God  will  gather  home  to  Zion  those  dispersed 
ones  who  had  been  sad  because  of  their  long  exclusion  from  her 
solemn  feasts,  and  who  had  borne  reproach  for  their  God. 

19.  Behold,  at  that  time  I  will  undo  all  that  afflict 
thee :  and  I  will  save  her  that  halteth,  and  gather  her 
that  was  driven  out;  and  I  will  get  them  praise  and 
fame  in  every  land  where  they  have  been  put  to  shame. 

20.  At  that  time  will  I  bring  you  again,  even  in  the 
time  that  I  gather  you  :  for  T  will  make  you  a  name  and 


ZEPHANIAH.— CHAP.  III.  281 

a  praise  among  all  people  of  the  earth,  when  I  turn 
back  your  captivity  before  your  eyes,  saith  the  Lord. 

The  original,  rendered  "  I  will  undo,"  means  I  will  deal  with — 
take  them  in  hand  for  justice  and  judgment.  This  would  doubtless 
involve  then*  undoing.  Sentiment — God  will  reverse  the  state  of 
her  long-depressed  and  scattered  people.  The  feeble  shall  be  saved 
with  strength  ;  the  exiled  brought  home  in  triumph  ;  the  long-dis- 
honored and  disowned  shall  have  praise  and  tame  iu  the  very  place 
where  they  had  been  put  to  shame.  The  public  sentiment  of  the 
world  is  changed,  and  the  real  friends  of  God  are  now  held,  not  in 

contempt,  but  in  honor. It  can  scarcely  be  supposed  that  the 

restoration  from  Babylon  exhausted  the  significance  of  these  prom- 
ises. Then  the  restored  people  were  few  and  feeble.  Though  hon- 
ored and  favored  by  Cyrus,  yet  they  were  by  no  means  greatly 
honored  by  their  nearest  neighbors,  the  Samaritans,  nor  by  other 
contiguous  nations.  Something  more  and  better  than  that  must  lie 
yet  treasured  up  for  Zion  in  these  promises.  Yet  further,  the  clear 
indications  in  this  chapter  (vs.  9,  10)  of  the  conversion  of  the  Gen- 
tiles also,  must  carry  the  great  body  of  these  predictions  over  into 
the  gospel  era,  and  some  portion  of  them  down  into  those  times 
described  by  Paul  (Rom.  11),  when,  almost  simultaneously,  the  Jews 
will  be  grafted  back  into  their  former  stock,  and  the  Gentile  world 
be  converted  to  the  same  ever-blessed  God. 0  come,  that  glo- 
rious day  I 


HAQGAI. 


IXTKODUCTIOS 

Both  the  date  and  the  occasion  of  this  book  are  given  very  dis- 
tinctly. Its  date  is  subsequent  to  the  restoration  from  captivity  in 
Babylon  by  sixteen  years.  Its  occasion  was  the  fact  that  the  Jews 
were  sinfully  neglecting  to  complete  the  building  of  then*  temple. 
Consequently  the  Lord  sent  Haggai  to  rebuke  them  for  this  sin,  and 

to  exhort  them  to  resume  the  work  and  complete  it. It  should  bo 

borne  in  mind  that  Cyrus,  on  his  accession  to  the  Medo-Persian 
throne,  two  years  after  it  had  absorbed  the  Chaldean  empire  and 
made  Babylon  its  capital,  issued  an  edict,  strongly  inviting  the 
Jews  to  return  to  their  own  land,  and  rebuild  both  their  holy  city 
and  their  temple.  Fifty  thousand  responded  to  this  call,  and  under 
Zerubbabel  as  governor,  and  Joshua  as  high  priest,  returned  to  the 
land  of  their  fathers,  and  commenced  rebuilding  the  city,  and  in 
process  of  time  the  temple  also.  The  Book  of  Ezra  gives  the  Jewish 
history  of  these  events.  It  there  appears  that  in  the  second  year 
of  Cyrus  (b.  c.  535),  and  in  the  second  month,  they  began  to  re- 
build the  temple ;  that  soon  the  Samaritans  began  to  oppose  and 
retard  then*  work,  and  kept  up  this  opposition  during  the  remaining 
five  years  of  the  reign  of  Cyrus  (Ez.  4 :  5),  and  yet  more  vigor- 
ously and  successfully,  under  his  vile  son  and  successor  Cambyses 
(called,  Ez.  4:6,  "  Ahasuerus  "),  who  reigned  seven  years  and  five 
months.  At  length,  from  his  successor,  Smerdis  (called,  Ez.  4 :  7, 
8, 11,  23,  Artaxerxes),  they  obtained  an  order  that  the  work  should 
absolutely  cease.  This  Smerdis  reigned  but  seven  months.  A 
better  king  succeeded,  in  the  person  of  Darius  Hystaspes.  As  Smerdis 
was  at  best  only  an  usurper,  and  as  the  decree  of  Cyrus  was  there- 


HAGGAL— CHAP.  I.  283 

foro  still  the  law  of  the  realm,  there  was  no  legal  obstacle  in  the 
way  of  resuming  this  work  the  first  moment  after  the  pressure  of 
violent  prevention  was  removed.  When,  throughout  the  first  year 
of  Darius,  it  was  seen  that  the  people  did  not  resume  this  work,  but 
occupied  themselves  in  fitting  up  and  even  embellishing  their  own 
houses,  the  Lord  sent  his  prophet  Haggai,  and  two  months  later 
Zechariah,  to  rebuke  them  for  this  neglect,  and  to  encourage  them 
to  resume  and  complete  the  building  of  the  temple.     The  work  was 

completed  in  the  sixth  year  of  Darius  (Ezra  6 :  15). These  are 

briefly  the  historic  facts  which,  being  intimately  connected  with  the 
subject  matter  of  this  book,  are  essential  to  its  intelligent  exposition. 


CHAPTER    I. 

The  Lord  rebukes  the  neglect  of  the  people  to  build  his  house ; 
calls  their  attention  to  their  lean  and  meagre  harvests,  and  to  his 
blighting  curses  upon  their  land  and  labor  because  of  this  neglect ; 
and  when  the  people  shall  have  returned  to  this  duty,  pledges  them 
his  favoring  presence. 

1.  In  the  second  year  of  Darius  the  king,  in  the  sixth 
month,  in  the  first  day  of  the  month,  came  the  word  of 
the  Loed  by  Haggai  the  prophet  imto  Zerubbabel  the 
son  of  Shealtiel,  governor  of  Jndah,  and  to  Joshua  the 
son  of  Josedech,  the  high  priest,  saying, 

2.  Thus  speaketh  the  Loed  of  hosts,  saying,  This 
people  say,  The  time  is  not  come,  the  time  that  the 
Loed's  house  should  be  built. 

The  people  excused  their  delay  in  finishing  the  temple,  on  the 

alleged  ground  that  the  time  for  it  had  not  yet  come. It  has 

been  supposed  that  they  bolstered  up  this  lame  apology  by  their 
own  construction  of  Jeremiah's  prophecy  (25  :  12),  which  had  named 
seventy  years  as  the  duration  of  the  captivity.  As  the  temple  was 
not  destroyed  until  eighteen  years  after  the  first  captives  were  taken 
away,  and  as  only  about  fifteen  years  had  passed,  up  to  the  first 
year  of  Darius,  since  the  first  captives  returned,  they  perhaps  per- 
suaded themselves  to  think  that  the  temple  must  lie  desolate  yet 
some  three  years  longer,  to  complete  its  full  period  of  seventy  years. 

Men  sometimes  put  constructions  upon  Scripture  which  God 

has  neither  put  nor  authorized,  the  ultimate  cause  being  that  they 
are  but  too  well  pleased  to  have  it  so.  This  may  have  been  a  case 
of  the  same  sort. 


234  HAGGAL— CHAP.  I. 

3.  Then  came  the  word  of  the  Loed  by  Haggai  the 
prophet,  saying,  m 

4.  Is  it  time  for  yon,  O  ye,  to  dwell  m  your  ceiled 
houses,  and  this  house  lie  waste  ; 

In  the  question,  "  Is  it  time  for  you,"  &c,  the  Lord  uses  the 
word  "  time  "  because  the  people  had  used  it,  saying,  "  The  time  has 
not  come  to  build  the  Lord's  house."  Thus  ye  say,  "  The  time  has 
not  come  to  build  my  house ;  "  has  the  time  come  for  you  to  build 
yours,  and  finish  them  off  with  comfort  and  even  elegance,  while 
you  let  my  house  lie  waste  ?  Is  this  a  proper  expression  of  gratitude 
to  Jehovah  for  condescending  to  dwell  in  the  midst  of  you,  and  for 
redeeming  you  from  your  long  captivity  ?  The  word  "  you  "  in  the 
Hebrew  is  made  specially  emphatic.  It  is  for  you,  for  such  as  you, 
for  you,  in  view  of  all  your  circumstances,  &c.     This  emphasis  is 

indicated  by  repeating  the  pronoun  you. "  Ceiled  houses,"  from 

the  Hebrew  word  meaning  covered,  refers  to  the  inside  covering  of 
the  walls  with  more  or  less  of  ornament — in  modern  phrase,  called 
"  finishing  "—for  both  comfort  and  beauty. 

5.  Now,  therefore,  thus  saith  the  Loed  of  hosts  ;  Con- 
sider your  ways. 

6.  Ye  have  sown  much,  and  bring  in  little  ;  ye  eat, 
bnt  ye  have  not  enough ;  ye  drink,  but  ye  are  not  filled 
with  drink ;  ye  clothe  you,  but  there  is  none  warm  ;  and 
he  that  earneth  wages,  earneth  wages  to  put  it  into  a  bag 
with  holes. 

The  expressive  form  of  the  original  is,  "  Set  your  heart  on  your 
ways,"  i.  e.,  look  on  your  ways,  not  only  thoughtfully  but  solemnly, 
appreciating  and  realizing  the  significance  of  your  course  toward 
God,  and  of  God's  toward  you.  Since  they  had  dishonored  God  by 
neglecting  his  temple,  he  had  scourged  them  by  suspending  his 
usual  gifts  of  timely  rain  and  sun.  He  appeals  to  them  to  note  the 
facts  of  their  own  case,  how  they  had  prospered  in  nothing,  and  had 
toiled  to  small  purpose. 

7.  Thus  saith  the  Loed  of  hosts  ;  Consider  your  ways. 

8.  Go  up  to  the  mountain,  and  bring  wood,  and  build 
the  house ;  and  I  will  take  pleasure  in  it,  and  I  will  be 
glorified,  saith  the  Loed. 

This  second  exhortation  to  consider  their  ways  may  have  a  look 
forward,  as  the  first  (v.  5)  looked  back,  as  if  the  Lord  would  say : 
"  Take  note  of  what  shall  be  hereafter,  as  well  as  of  what  has  been 
heretofore.  Go  to  the  mountain;  get  wood;  finish  my  house; 
then  see  what  a  change  shall  come  over  your  labor,  and  the  fruits 
thereof." 

9.  Ye  looked  for  much,  and,  lo  it  came  to  little ;  and 


HAGGAL— CHAP.  I.  285 

when  ye  brought  it  home,  I  did  blow  upon  it.  Why  ? 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.  Because  of  mine  house  that  is 
waste,  and  ye  run  every  man  unto  his  own  house. 

10.  Therefore,  the  heaven  over  you  is  stayed  from 
dew,  and  the  earth  is  stayed  from  her  fruit. 

11.  And  I  called  for  a  drought  upon  the  land,  and 
upon  the  mountains,  and  upon  the  corn,  and  upon  the 
new  wine,  and  upon  the  oil,  and  upon  that  which  the 
ground  bringeth  forth,  and  upon  men,  and  upon  cattle, 
and  upon  all  the  labor  of  the  hands. 

The  phrase  "blow  upon  it,"  some  interpreters  render  (as  the 
margin  has  it)  hlow  it  away.  The  preposition  rendered  upon, 
strongly  favors  our  received  translation.  The  sense  will  then  he — 
Even  after  you  had  gathered  your  harvests  home,  I  blighted  them  as 

by  the  breath  of  my  mouth. The  word  "  nm,"  "  ye  run  every 

man  to  his  own  house,"  indicates  that  their  hearts  were  not  in  God's 

house,  nor  toward  it,  but  toward  their  own. It  was  specially 

characteristic  of  the  entire  age  before  the  coming  of  Christ  that  God's 
moral  government  over  men  in  this  world  was  made  manifest  by 
present  retribution.  It  was  never  intended  that  those  present  retri- 
butions should  be  perfect,  or  should  supersede  the  necessity  of  a  fu- 
ture state  in  which  all  deficiencies  would  be  made  up  ;  but  it  was 
the  design  of  God  to  make  his  government  palpable,  so  that  all  men 
should  have  tangible,  visible  evidence  of  its  reality.  Obviously  there 
was  indefinitely  more  need  of  present  retribution  then  than  now. 
It  was  a  sort  of  compensation  to  offset  their  inferior  light  respecting 

God,  duty,  and  salvation. The  genius  of  that  whole  dispensation 

in  regard  to  the  point  now  in  hand — present  retribution  for  right 
and  wrong  doing,  visited  on  the  people  in  blessings  or  in  curses— is 
set  forth  strongly  in  the  latter  chapters  of  Deuteronomy,  especially 
chapter  28.  These  verses  of  Haggai  presuppose  this  type  of  God's 
moral  government  over  men  in  this  world. 

12.  Then  Zernbbabel  the  son  of  Shealtiel,  and  Joshua 
the  son  of  Josedech,  the  high  priest,  with  all  the  rem- 
nant of  the  people,  obeyed  the  voice  of  the  Loed  their 
God,  and  the  words  of  Haggai  the  prophet,  as  the  Loed 
their  God  had  sent  him,  and  the  people  did  fear  before 
the  Loed. 

13.  Then  spake  Haggai  the  Loed's  messenger  in  the 
Loed's  message  unto  the  people,  saying,  I  am  with  you, 
saith  the  Loed. 

14.  And  the  Loed  stirred  up  the  spirit  of  Zernbbabel 
the  son  of  Shealtiel,  governor  of  Judah,  and  the  spirit  of 
Joshua  the  son  of  Josedech,  the  high  priest,  and  the 


HAGGAI.— CHAP.  n. 

spirit  of  all  the  remnant  of  the  people  ;  and  they  came 
and  did  work  in  the  honse  of  the  Lokd  of  hosts,  their 
God, 

15.  In  the  four  and  twentieth  day  of  the  sixth  month, 
in  the  second  year  of  Darius  the  king. 

It  is  pleasant  to  note  that  these  messages  from  the  Lord  pro- 
duced the  desired  result.  The  Lord  stirred  up  the  spirit  of  both 
rukrs  and  people,  and  they  took  hold  earnestly  of  the  neglected 
work  of  rebuilding  the  temple.     Twenty-four  days  sufficed  to  arouse 

them  and  to  make  the  necessary  preparations. The  masses  of  the 

people  were  far  more  obedient  to  the  voice  of  God  than  before  the 
captivity — furnishing  yet  another  case  of  blessings  coming  through 
sore  chastisement.  "  Before  I  was  afflicted,  I  went  astray,  but  now 
have  I  kept  thy  word." 


CHAPTER    II. 

The  distinct  portions  of  this  chapter  are  strongly  marked :  (1.) 
The  portion  (vs.  1-9)  which  speaks  to  those  hearts  that  were  sad 
and  depressed  by  the  greatly  inferior  glory  of  this  temple  compared 
with  that  built  by  Solomon.  (2.)  Ys.  10-19,  designed  to  show  that 
their  late  neglect  to  build  the  house  of  God  had  vitiated  all  their 
labors,  and  brought  a  blight  from  the  Lord  upon  all  their  fruits ; 
and  (3.)  Vs.  20-23,  encouraging  their  rulers,  and  confirming  the 
great  promise  made  (vs.  6-9). 

1.  In  the  seventh  month,  in  the  one  and  twentieth 
day  of  the  month,  came  the  word  of  the  Loed  by  the 
prophet  Haggai,  saying, 

The  reader  will  note  that  this  date  is  one  month,  less  three 
days,  after  they  began  upon  the  work  of  rebuilding.  (See  1 :  15.) 
With  what  had  been  done  in  the  former  effort,  commenced  some 
fourteen  years  before,  the  work  of  this  month  sufficed  to  show  that 
this  temple  must  be  greatly  inferior  in  splendor  and  in  all  its  ap- 
pointments, to  that  which  had  stood  from  the  time  of  Solomon 
down  to  the  captivity. 

2.  Speak  now  to  Zerubbabel  the  son  of  Shealtiel, 
governor  of  Juclah,  and  to  Joshua  the  son  of  Josedech 
the  high  priest,  and  to  the  residue  of  the  people,  saying, 

3.  Who  is  left  among  you  that  saw  this  house  in  her 
first  glory  ?  and  how  do  ye  see  it  now  ?  is  it  not  in  your 
eyes  in  comparison  of  it  as  nothing  ? 

A  few  patriarchs  of  venerable  age  remained  to  remember  the 
glory  of  that  first  temple  which  had  now  lain  desolate  about  sixty- 


HAGGAL— CHlP.  II.  287 

eiglit  years.  Tlie  Lord  calls  their  attention  to  the  contrast  between 
that  and  this.     "  How  do  ye  see  this  now  ?    Is  not  this  in  your 

eyes,  compared  with  that,  as  nothing?  " Ezra.  3  :  12, 13,  gives  us 

a  touching  allusion  to  this  scene,  blending  the  joy  of  the  young 
people  with  the  grief  of  their  fathers — the  shoutings  of  the  one  class 
and  the  sad  waitings  of  the  other — each  swelling  up,  and  perhaps 
each  exciting  the  other,  until  the  noise  was  heard  afar,  and  men 
could  not  distinguish  the  shouts  of  joy  from  the  outcries  of  grief— 
a  scene  not  soon  forgotten  by  either  the  joyous  or  the  sad  ones  of 
that  day. — : — The  Lord  calls  attention  to  the  wide  contrast  between 
this  latter  house  and  the  former  because  he  had  something  to  say 
about  it,  as  we  shall  see. 

4.  Yet  now  be  strong,  O  Zerubabbel,  saitli  the  Lord  ; 
and  be  strong,  O  Joshua,  son  of  Josedech  the  high 
priest ;  and  be  strong,  all  ye  people  of  the  land,  saith 
the  Lord,  and  work :  for  I  am  with  you,  saith  the  Lord 
of  hosts : 

The  first  thing  he  would  say  is,  Be  strong  of  heart,  and  never 
yield  to  depression;  "be  strong  and  work,"  for  I  am  with  you, 
and  my  presence  ought  to  outweigh  greater  and  more  discouraging 
contrasts  than  this  which  saddens  your  hearts  to-day.     Shall  it  not , 
be  enough  for  you  that  I  am  with  you  ? 

5.  According  to  the  word  that  I  covenanted  with 
you  when  ye  came  out  of  Egypt,  so  my  Spirit  remain- 
eth  among  you ;  fear  ye  not. 

The  proper  construction  of  the  term  "word,"  in  the  phrase 
rendered  "according  to  the  word  that  I  covenanted,"  &c,  pre- 
sents difficulties.  There  seems  to  be  no  authority  in  the  original 
for  the  words  "  according  to,"  or  for  the  idea  that  the  continued 
presence  of  the  Spirit  is  in  accordance  with  that  original  covenant 
made  when  the  nation  came  forth  from  Egypt.     This  mayor  not  be 

true :   it  is  not  expressed  clearly  and  beyond  a  doubt  here. 

On  the  contrary,  this  passage,  almost  beyond  a  doubt,  affirms  (1.) 
That  the  covenant  made  at  Sinai  is  still  in  force,  no  less  since  the 
captivity  than  before ;  and  (2.)  That  God's  Spirit  also  still  abides 
with  the  people ;  so  that  for  both  reasons  the  people  ought  not  to 
fear,  but  be  strong  and  of  good  courage.  "With  such  a  covenant  of 
promise,  and  such  a  present,  indwelling  Spirit,  why  should  they 
bewail  the  lack  of  those  external  splendors  which  pertained  to  the 
temple  of  Solomon  ? 

6.  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  ;  Yet  once,  it  is 
a  little  while,  and  I  will  shake  the  heavens,  and  the 
earth,  and  the  sea,  and  the  dry  land ; 

Exegetically,  the  chief  difficulty  in  this  verse  turns  on  the  word 
rendered  " once"    The  choice  seems  to  me  to  lie  between  these 


288  HAGGAL— CHAP.  II. 

two  constructions:  (1.)  "Yet  once  more,  and  that  very  soon,  I 
will  shake,"  &c. ;  or  (2).  "  It  is  yet  but  one  short  period,  and  I  will 
shake'"  &c.  In  the  latter  case,  the  word  one  (this  is  the  usual  sense 
of  the  Hebrew)  is  only  equivalent  to  the  article.  Of  this  usage 
there  are  some  examples.  The  choice  between  these  two  construc- 
tions is  a  matter  of  no  great  importance  as  to  the  ultimate  sense. 
The  first  construction  may  be  thought  to  imply  once  more,  and 
once  only. 

The  "  shaking  of  the  heavens,  the  earth,  the  sea,  and  the  dry 
land,"  must  be  taken  in  the  figurative  and  not  the  literal  sense,  to 
indicate,  not  an  earthquake,  reaching  far  out  through  boundless 
space,  but  convulsions  among  the  great  nationalities  of  the  world — 
Assyrian,  Chaldean,  Medo-Persian,  and  Grecian — to  pave  the  way 
for  the  coming  of  Messiah's  kingdom.  They  dash  one  against  an- 
other, each  in  succession  overwhelming  its  immediate  predecessor, 
but  each  revolution  ripening  the  world  for  the  coming  of  Messiah. 
In  a  similar  strain  Ezekiel  says  (21 :  27)  :  "  I  will  overturn,  overturn, 
overturn,  and  it  shall  be  no  more,  until  he  come  whose  right  it  is, 

and  I  will  give  it  him." In  this  view  of  the  sense,  the  next  verse 

will  be  explanatory — "  Yea,  I  will  shake  all  nations,"  &c. 

7.  And  I  -will  shake  all  nations,  and  the  desire  of 
all  nations  shall  come :  and  I  will  nil  this  house  with 
glory,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts. 

8.  The  silver  is  mine,  and  the  gold  is  mine,  saith 
the  Lord  of  hosts. 

The  test  word  in  verse  7  is  "  desire."  Is* this  a  synonym  for  the 
Messiah?  Is  it  only  another  name  for  the  same  exalted  man, 
thought  and  spoken  of  here  as  one  "  desired  by  all  nations  "  ? .  So 
the  current  sentiment  of  the  Church  and  so  its  sacred  songs  have 
for  the  most  part  assumed.  This  has  been  a  pleasant  and  cherished 
interpretation.  I  must  confess  that  I  have  felt  its  strong  attrac- 
tions. But  I  have  been  compelled  by  the  force  of  grammatical  and 
exegetical  reasons  to  modify  somewhat  this  interpretation,  yet  not 
soas  ultimately  to  lessen  but  rather  to  augment  the  richness  of  its 

spiritual  significance. The  usual  construction,  which  interprets 

the  word  "desire"  as  meaning  precisely  the  Messiah,  must  be  re- 
jected : 

(1.)  First  and  mainly,  because  the  verb  is  plural — "  they  come, 
even  the  desire  of  all  the  nations."  The  word  "desire"  must 
therefore  be  a  noun  of  multitude,  *'.  e.,  a  noun  embracing  in  its 
meaning  not  one  object  alone,  but  many.  There  seems  to  be  no 
way  to  get  over  this  difficulty  so  long  as  we  make  "  desire  "  synony- 
mous with  Messiah. 

(2.)  The  scope  of  thought  is  not  congenial  to  its  strict  applica- 
tion to  the  Messiah,  especially  as  seen  in  the  declaration,  "  The 
silver  is  mine,  and  the  gold  is  mine,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts." 
Silver  and  gold  were  eminently  absent,  not  present,  in  the  personal 


IIAGGAI.— CHAP.  II.  289 

life  of  the  man  of  Nazareth.  Yet  in  this  prophecy  silver  and  gold 
must  stand  in  a  close  relation  to  the  sense  of  the  clause  "  the  De- 
sire of  all  nations  shall  come." A  better  construction  is  possible, 

and  indeed  unobjectionable.  Let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  this 
entire  passage  grows  out  of  the  contrast  between  the  meagreness 
of  the  new  "temple  and  the  wealth  and  splendor  of  the  old,  and  out 
of  the  consequent  discouragement  and  depression  of  the  Lord's  peo- 
ple. He  calls  their  special  attention  to  this  wide  contrast  (v.  3). 
He  proceeds  to  intimate  (vs.  4,  5)  that  the  absence  of  gold  and 
silver,  and  of  material  splendor  in  this  new  temple,  may  be  abun- 
dantly compensated  by  his  spiritual  blessings;  by  the  fact  that  "/ 
am  with  you,"  and  the  further  fact  that  the  covenant  and  the  Spirit 
are  still  remaining.  He  advances  yet  in  the  same  line  of  thought — 
I  am  about  to  convulse  the  nations — to  revolutionize  the  state  of 
the  world,  and  thus,  as  the  ultimate  outcome,  the  desirable  things 
of  all  nations — their  wealth,  beauty,  and  glory — shall  come  to  Zion ; 
and  "  I  will  fill  this  temple  with  glory,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts." 
The  silver  and  the  gold  of  all  the  world  are  mine,  saith  the  Lord 
of  hosts,  and  by  the  might  of  my  power  over  the  hearts  of  men 
and  over  all  human  society,  it  shall  be  consecrated  to  Immanuel's 
kingdom. Special  stress  must  be  accorded  to  this  frequent  repe- 
tition of  the  phrase,  "saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,"  closing  each  of 

three  successive  verses,  7,  8,  9. Let  it  also  be  borne  in  mind  that, 

according  to  this  construction,  the  Lord  speaks  precisely  to  that 
which  constituted  the  chief  solicitude  of  the  pious  Jews.  They 
were  saying  in  their  heart :  How  much  we  do  miss  the  riches — the 
silver,  the  gold,  the  cedars,  the  tapestry — of  that  ancient  temple ! 
When  and  how  can  we  ever  rear  a  temple  worthy  of  the  God  of 
our  fathers  ?     We  are  very  poor  ;  shall  we  over  be  rich  enough  to 

build  and  adorn  a  temple  worthy  of  our  God  ? To  this  the  Lord 

very  kindly  and  pertinently  replies :  Give  yourselves  no  solicitudes 
in  that  line.  I  am  the  Lord  God  of  hosts  ;  I  rule  this  wide  world, 
and  I  can  command  all  its  silver  and  gold  when  I  will  for  my  king- 
dom.    And  I  shall  do  it! In  support  of  this  construction  may 

be  urged  (1.)  It  gives  the  ordinary  and  established  sense  to  the 
word  rendered  "  desire.'''  This  word  is  used  mainly  for  those  things 
which  worldly  men  desire.  (2.)  It  meets  the  exigencies  of  the 
plural  verb,  since  it  embraces  in  its  idea  many  things,  not  one  only. 
(3.)  It  is,  as  we  have  seen,  fully  in  keeping  with  the  previous  con- 
text— the  train  of  thought  which  occasioned  this  prophecy,  and 
which  introduced  this  passage.  (4.)  It  is  equally  in  harmony  with 
the  subsequent  context — filling  this  house  with  glory,  and  God's 
claiming  the  silver  and  the  gold  of  the  world  as  his  own.  (5.)  It  is 
also  entirely  in  harmony  with  other  and  more  ancient  prophecies, 
e.  g.,  Isa.  60.  To  set  this  in  its  full  light  would  demand  the  whole 
ehapter,  in  which  we  read:  "The  abundance  of  the  sea  shall  be 
converted  unto  thee  " — "  all  they  from  Sheba  shall  come,  bringing 
gold  and  incense"—"  the  isles  shall  wait  for  me,  and  the  ships  of 
tarshish  first,  to  bring  thy  sons  from  far,  their  silver  and  their  gold 
13 


290 


HAGGAL— CHAP.  II.. 


with  them,  nnto  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God  "— "  the  glory  of 
Lebanon  shall  come  nnto  thee  to  beautify  the  place  of  my  sanctu- 
ary, and  I  will  make  the  place  of  my  feet  glorious,"  &c,  &c. 

The  same  strain  runs  through  the  seventy-second  Psalm:  "The 
kings  of  Tarshish  and  of  the  isles  shall  bring  presents ;  the  kings 
of  Sheba  and  Seba  shall  offer  gifts." Let  it  be  said  very  dis- 
tinctly that  in  this  construction  of  the  passage,  I  do  not  exclude 
but  include  the  Messiah.  One  advantage  of  this  construction  is 
that  under  it  we  get,  not  the  Messiah  alone,  but  much  more  be- 
sides. It  is  only  under  his  reign  and  after  the  power  of  his  cross 
over  human  hearts  has  been  gloriously  developed  among  the  great 
and  distant  nations  of  the  earth,  that  all  the  silver  and  gold  of 
the  world  shall  be  brought  and  laid  at  his  feet  for  use  in  the  pur- 
poses of  his  spiritual  kingdom.  Even  yet,  how  little  of  the  real 
wealth  of  nominally  Christian  nations — nay,  more,  how  little  of  the 
wealth  of  the  visible  Church  is  truly  consecrated  to  the  Saviour  of 
men!  It  shall  yet  be  far  otherwise  than  this!  Prophecy  cannot 
receive  its  entire  fulfilment  until  the  wealth  of  the  world  shall  press 
forward  voluntarily  (so  to  speak)  to  lay  itself  at  Immanuel's  feet, 
to  be  used  so  that  he  may  soonest  and  best  see  of  the  travail  of  his 
soul,  and  may  have  most  of  that  "joy  set  before  him,"  in  the  con- 
version of  myriads  to  his  love  and  service. It  may  be  asked  :  Do 

you  expect,  in  the  good  time  yet  coming,  to  see  a  temple  built  with 
cedars  from  Lebanon,  and  beautified  with  the  silver  and  the  gold  of 

all  the  earth? 1  answer,  Nothing  can    be  further   from  my 

thought  than  the  going  back  of  Christianity  to  real  Judaism.  The 
New  Testament  "temple  of  God"  is  the  loving  and  pure  heart 
wherein  God  dwells  (2  Cor.  6 :  16).  In  this  temple,  by  another 
figure,  Christians  are  themselves  "living  stones"  (1  Pet.  2:5), 
and  in  this  temple  "the  sacrifices  of  God  are  a  broken  heart  and 

a  contrite  spirit." Of  course,  Jewish  prophets  must  think  and 

write  in  Jewish  symbols  and  terms.  Good  Christian  sense  must 
find  the  spiritual  meaning  of  those  terms  and  symbols — the  New 
Testament  and  its  teaching  Spirit  furnishing  the  key. 

9.  The  glory  of  this  latter  house  shall  be  greater  than 
of  the  former,  saith  the  Loed  of  hosts  :  and  in  this  place 
will  I  give  peace,  saith  the  Loed  of  hosts. 

To  the  first  clause,  two  different  interpretations  have  been  given  ; 
(1.)  That  the  "  latter  house  "  is  that  of  Zerubbabel,  the  former  that 
of  Solomon ;  and  the  thing  affirmed,  that  the  glory  of  this  built 
under  Zerubbabel,  shall  be  greater  than  the  glory  of  that  built  by 
Solomon ;  (2.)  That  the  temple  of  Solomon  is  out  of  mind,  and  that 
the  antithesis  really  lies  between  the  former  and  the  latter  glory  of 
this  same  temple  then  in  building — its  "former  glory  "being  what 
it  had  under  Zerubbabel,  and  onward  down  through  what  remained 
of  the  age  before  Christ ;  and  the  latter,  that  which  it  shall  attain 
when  the  desirable  things  of  all  nations  shall  come  into  it ;  when 
the  wealth  and  beauty  of  the  world  shall  be  consecrated  to  Iniman- 


HAGGAI.— CHAP.  IT.  291 

uel,  and  the  Prince  of  Peace  shall  reign  in  his  own  spiritual  tem- 
ple, filling  it  with  the  glory  of  his  own  presence. The  latter  is 

doubtless  the  true  construction :  (1.)  Because  it  is  precisely  what 
the  words  in  their  order  mean,  and  must  mean.  They  stand  thus : 
"  Great  shall  he  the  glory  of  this  house — the  latter  more  than  the 
former,  saith  Jehovah  of  hosts."  (2.)  Because  this  construction 
alone  answers  to  the  drift  of  the  context,  the  very  thing  that  the 
Lord  is  saying  in  this  passage  being  this — The  meagre  glory  of 
this  temple,  as  ye  now  see  it,  shall  give  place  to  a  glory  vastly 
greater  when  the  wealth  and  beauty  of  all  the  nations  shall  be 
brought  into  it.  That  is,  the  era  of  spiritual  power,  beauty,  and 
glory,  shall  immensely  surpass  all  the  external  splendors  of  Judaism ; 
the  spirit  shall  eclipse  the  letter ;  the  inward  be  more  and  better 
than  the  outward ;  the  homage  of  countless  warm  and  living  hearts 
shall  more  adorn  and  glorify  God's  temple  than  all  the  gold  of 
Ophir,  the  smoke  of  incense  and  the  blood  of  thousands  of  bullocks 

and  of  rams. "In  this  place  will  I  give  peace" — can  have  but 

one  interpretation  ; — not  tranquillity  as  opposed  to  the  disturbances 
of  war ;  not  peace  of  mind  as  opposed  to  agitation  and  distress :  but 
including  all  these  and  much  more,  the  abstract  word  peace,  used 
for  the  concrete,  it  means  the  great  Peacemaker,  the  great  author 
and  Prince  of  Peace,  the  world's  pacificator  as  toward  its  abused, 
offended  Maker ; — the  Shiloh  of  earlier  prophecy,  repeatedly  foretold 
under  precisely  this  appellation.     (See  Micah  5 :  5  and  Isa.  9  :  6,  7.) 

This  naturally  completes  the  evidence  in  proof  that  this  entire 

passage  refers  to  the  then  future  times  of  the  Messiah. 

10.  Iii  the  four  and  twentieth  day  of  the  ninth  month, 
in  the  second  year  of  Darius,  came  the  word  of  the  Lokd 
by  Ilaggai  the  prophet,  saying, 

11.  Thus  saith  the  Loed  of  hosts,  Ask  now  the 
priests  concerning  the  law,  saying, 

12.  If  one  bear  holy  flesh  in  the  skirt  of  his  garment, 
and  with  his  skirt  do  touch  bread,  or  pottage,  or  wine, 
or  oil,  or  any  meat,  shall  it  be  holy  ?  And  the  priests 
answered  and  said,  No. 

13.  Then  said  Ilaggai,  If  one  that  is  unclean  by  a 
dead  body  touch  any  of  these,  shall  it  be  unclean  ?  And 
the  priests  answered  and  said,  It  shall  be  unclean. 

14.  Then  answered  Ilaggai,  and  said,  So  is  this  peo- 
ple, and  so  is  this  nation  before  me,  saith  the  Loed  ;  and 
so  is  every  work  of  then*  hands ;  and  that  which  they 
offer  here  is  unclean. 

The  priests  being  the  authorized  expounders  of  the  ceremonial 
law,  the  Lord  directs  the  people  to  propound  to  them  two  ques- 
tions :  (1.)  In  case  a  priest,  bearing  holy  flesh  in  his  garment,  brings 


292  HAGGAL— CHAP.  II. 

it  in  contact  with  any  thing  else,  does  it  impart  its  own  sacrednesa 
to  whatsoever  it  touches? To  this,  they  answer,  JSo.  Ceremo- 
nial holiness  is  not  imparted  by  the  touch. (2.)  Over  against  this 

is  the  second  question :  Does  a  man,  who  has  been  made  unclean 
bv  contact  with  a  dead  body,  impart  his  own  uncleanness  by  the 
touch?  They  answer,  Yes.  Ceremonial  uncleanness  is  imparted 
bv  the  touch. This  doctrine  of  the  ceremonial  law,  the  Lord  ap- 
plies to  the  people.  They  had  sinned  in  neglecting  to  build  the 
Lord's  temple.  By  reason  of  this  sin,  their  moral  state  became 
analogous  to  that  of  the  man  ceremonially  unclean.  This  sin  im- 
parted its  moral  character  to  all  they  did.     The  Lord  could  not  take 

pleasure  in  the  labors  of  their  hands  ;  it  all  became  unclean. On 

the  other  hand,  if  they  should  do  any  good  thing,  it  could  not  carry 
its  good  quality  over  to  any  thing  else  they  might  do.  Under  the 
law  of  God,  works  of  supererogation  are  unknown. 

15.  And  now,  I  pray  yon,  consider  from  this  day 
and  upwards,  from  before  a  stone  was  laid  npon  a  stone 
in  the  temple  of  the  Lord  : 

16.  Since  those  clays  were,  when  one  came  to  an  heap 
of  twenty  measures,  there  were  out  ten  :  when  one  came 
to  the  press-fat  for  to  draw  out  fifty  vessels  out  of  the 
press,  there  were  hut  twenty. 

IT.  I  smote  you  with  blasting  and  with  mildew  and 
with  hail  in  all  the  labors  of  your  hands ;  yet  ye  turned 
not  to  me,  saith  the  Loed. 

The  Lord  would  have  them  review  the  period  from  that  day 
backward  to  the  point  where  the  building  of  the  temple  commenced, 
and  so  from  that  day  onward  to  the  present,  and  observe  how  fear- 
fully their  harvests  had  been  blighted.  "  I  smote  you  with  blasting 
and  blight,  yet  ye  moved  not  toward  me" — literally,  "there  was 
nothing  of  you  to  me."  Up  to  this  point  his  chastisements  had 
proved  altogether  unavailing. 

18.  Consider  now  from  this  day  and  upward,  from 
the  four  and  twentieth  day  of  the  ninth  month,  even 
from  the  day  that  the  foundation  of  the  Lord's  temple 
was  laid,  consider  it. 

19.  Is  the  seed  yet  in  the  barn?  yea,  as  yet  the  vine, 
and  the  fig-tree,  and  the  pomegranate,  and  the  olive-tree, 
hath  not  brought  forth  :  from  this  clay  will  I  bless  you. 

Here  is  another  call  to  examine  the  course  of  the  Lord's  provi- 
dence toward  them  throughout  the  interval  from  the  day  when 
they  commenced  laying  the  foundations  of  the  Lord's  house  to  that 

hour. Is  the  seed  yet  in  the  barn  ?  No.     Planting- time  is  past, 

and  you  have  planted ;  but  have  you  any  harvests  of  any  sort  ?  JSTot 


HAGGAL— CHAP.  II.  293 

any. But  now  that  ye  have  resumed  this  labor  upon  the  temple, 

from  this  day  I  will  bless  you.     Note  and  see. 

20.  And  again  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto 
Haggai  in  the  four  and  twentieth  day  of  the  month, 
saying, 

21.  Speak  to  Zerubbabel,  governor  of  Judah,  saying, 
I  will  shake  the  heavens  and  the  earth ; 

22.  And  I  will  overthrow  the  throne  of  kingdoms, 
and  I  will  destroy  the  strength  of  the  kingdoms  of  the 
heathen ;  and  I  will  overthrow  the  chariots,  and  those 
that  ride  in  them ;  and  the  horses  and  their  riders  shall 
come  down,  every  one  by  the  sword  of  his  brother. 

This  message,  sent  especially  to  Zerubbabel,  bears  the  same  date 
with  that  immediately  preceding,  and  seems  intended  to  supple- 
ment and  reaffirm  the  prophecy  recorded  (vs.  6-9).  It  is  quite  plain 
here  that  the  "shaking of  the  heavens  and  the  earth  "  is  the  same 
thing  as  "  overthrowing  the  throne  of  the  kingdoms,"  and  has  no 
application  other  than  this.  God  will  cast  down  vast  armies,  over- 
throwing chariots  and  their  riders,  horses  and  horsemen,  and  turn- 
ing a  man  against  his  brother,  so  that  God's  enemies  should  give 
then*  strength  to  mutual  slaughter.  Thus  those  vast,  ungodly  king- 
doms of  the  earth  are  doomed  to  fall. 

23.  In  that  day  saith  the  Loud  of  hosts,  will  I  take 
thee,  O  Zerubbabel,  my  servant,  the  son  of  Shealtiel, 
saith  the  Lord,  and  will  make  thee  as  a  signet ;  for  I 
have  chosen  thee,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts. 

But  throughout  this  slaughter  of  his  foes,  God  will  protect  his 
friends.  He  indicates  this  by  saying  that  their  governor  shall  be  as 
his  signet-ring  upon  his  finger.  This  implies  care,  love,  and  protec- 
tion. No  doubt  the  Lord  intended  this  promise  should  be  good  to 
the  successors  of  Zerubbabel ; — good  for  his  people  so  long  as  they 
put  their  trust  in  him,  whoever  their  Zerubbabel  may  be. 


ZECHAEIAH 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  usual  preliminary  questions  of  personal  history — date,  occa- 
sion, and  special  object — are  readily  settled  in  the  case  of  the  proph- 
et Zechariah.  He  began  to  prophesy  in  the  eighth  month  of  the 
second  year  of  Darius  Hystaspes,  n.  o.  520,  contemporary  with  Hag- 
gai,  when  Zerubbabel  was  governor  of  Judah,  and  Joshua  was  high 
priest.  At  this  period,  the  great  matters  of  interest  in  the  visible 
kingdom  of  God  were  the  rebuilding  of  Jerusalem,  the  resettlement 
of  the  returned  and  still-returning  captives  from  Chaldea,  and  yet 
more  especially,  the  rebuilding  of  the  temple,  and  the  culture  of  the 
faith  and  religious  life  of  the  people  composing  the  new  community. 
In  many  respects  it  was  a  time  of  laying  again  the  foundations  of  re- 
ligion and  morals,  and  of  planting  anew  those  institutions  which 
were  to  be  the  fountains  of  their  future  religious  life,  and  hence  of 
their  abiding  prosperity.     Consequently,  there  was  abundant  work 

for  the  prophets  of  the  Lord. It  is  pleasant  to  note  that  their 

work  was  more  hopeful  and  less  discouraging  than  that  of  their 
predecessors  for  many  generations.  The  people  were  more  impres- 
sible ;  the  word  of  the  Lord  was  effective ;  the  spirit  of  obedience, 
and  not  of  rebellion,  was  in  the  main  predominant.  Hence,  most 
of  the  messages  sent  from  the  Lord  by  Zechariah  were  of  cheerful 
tone,  breathing  far  more  of  promise  than  of  threatening. 

The  reader  will  notice  in  this  prophet  (relatively  to  the  whole 
amount  of  his  writings)  more  predictions  of  the  Messiah  than  in  any 

other. The  people  were  at  first  a  small  and  feeble  band,  estimated 

in  comparison  with  other  tribes  and  sovereignties  about  them.  They 
could  scarcely  have  stood  their  ground  against  these  hostile  powers, 


ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  I.  295 

save  under  the  protection  of  the  Persian  throne.  In  this  throne, 
God  had  remarkably  provided  for  their  security.  Hence,  they  had 
great  reason  to  feel  that  in  this  respect  their  salvation  and  national 
life  were  from  the  Lord.  In  the  same  line  of  thought,  the  Lord 
often  revealed  to  them  that  Greater  Patron  and  more  glorious 
Refuge,  ere  long  to  appear  in  the  person  of  Immanuel,  the  real 
King  of  Zion. 

The  first  six  chapters  are  distinguished  from  the  rest  of  the  hook, 
and  indeed  from  most  of  the  other  prophetical  writings  of  the 
Old  Testament,  by  the  blending  of  symbol  and  vision.  The  things 
presented  to  the  prophet  in  vision  were  highly  symbolic.  Most  of 
these  symbols  were  so  far  explained  to  the  prophet  as  to  give  us  an 

adequate  clue  to  their  significance. Some  critics  have  assumed 

that  the  diversity  in  the  point  of  symbolic  vision,  between  the  first 
six  chapters  and  the  remaining  eight,  is  sufficient  proof  that  the  lat- 
ter portion  was  not  written  by  the  same  Zechariah.  The  .only  valid 
ground  for  this  assumption  must  be  another  further  back,  viz. 
that,  if  God  reveals  any  truth  to  a  given  prophet  by  symbolic 
visions,  he  must  pursue  this  precise  method  and  no  other  without 
variation  throughout  that  prophet's  life.  But  what  authority  can 
be  found  for  such  an  assumption?  Does  it  obtain  in  the  case  of  the 
prophet  Amos,  or  Daniel,  or  Ezekiel,  or  Jeremiah  ?  I  look  upon 
this  assumption  as  one  of  the  follies,  not  to  say  absurdities,  of  hyper- 
criticism. The   book  throughout  is  richly  instructive,  fraught 

with  spiritual  life  and  power,  and  consolatory  to  the  feeble  but 
trusting  children  of  God. 


CHAPTER    I. 

Tins  chapter  contains  three  distinct  portions:  vs.  1-6  derive 
admonition  for  the  people  from  the  case  of  their  fathers  whom  the 
Lord  sent  into  captivity  for  their  sins;  vs.  8-17  is  the  first  symbolic 
vision,  viz.,  of  horses  and  their  riders,  and  vs.  17-21  the  second,  of 
four  horns,  and  of  smiths  to  break  those  horns  in  pieces  and  destroy 
their  power  for  harm. 

1.  Iii  tlie  eighth  month,  in  the  second  year  of 
Darius,  came  the  word  of  the  Lord  unto  Zechariah,  the 
son  of  Barachiah,  the  son  of  Iddo  the  prophet,  saying, 

Zechariah  is  said  (Ezra  5  : 1)  to  be  the  son  of  Iddo  the  prophet. 
We  must  suppose  that  ason"  is  used  there  in  its  less  rigid  sense, 
for  grandson.  Iddo  is  perhaps  made  prominent  there  as  his  an- 
cestor, because  he  was  a  prophet. 


296  ZECHAEIAH.— CHAP.  I. 

2.  The  Loed  hath  been  sore  displeased  with  your 
fathers. 

The  statements  of  the  history  respecting  this  sore  displeasure 
of  God  against  their  fathers  are  abundant  and  very  strong.  (See 
2  Chron.  36 :  11-16,  and  2  Chron.  33,  and  2  Kings  21 :  2-16.) 

3.  Therefore,  say  thou  unto  them.  Thus  saith  the 
Loed  of  hosts  ;  Turn  ye  unto  me,  saith  the  Loed  of  hosts, 
and  I  will  turn  unto  you,  saith  the  Loed  of  hosts. 

In  view  of  God's  wrath  against  their  fathers  and  its  results  in 
the  desolation  of  their  city  and  land,  the  Lord  commissions  Zech- 
ariah  to  say  to  the  people  then  present :  "  Turn  unto  me  in 
penitence,  and  I  will  turn  unto  you  in  forgiving  love  and  mercy." 
This  is  the  standing  law  of  God's  moral  kingdom  in  this  world  of 

probation. The  reader  will  notice  the  frequent  yet  not  "  vain 

repetition"  of  the  divine  title,  "  the  Lord  of  hosts,"  the  Great 
Euler  of  the  celestial  armies,  the  King  of  the  universe. 

4.  Be  ye  not  as  your  fathers,  unto  whom  the  former 
prophets  have  cried,  saying,  Thus  saith  the  Loed  of 
hosts ;  Turn  ye  now  from  your  evil  ways,  and/Ww^  your 
evil  doings :  but  they  did  not  hear,  nor  hearken  unto  me, 
saith  the  Loed. 

5.  Your  fathers,  where  are  they  %  and  the  prophets, 
do  they  live  for  ever  ? 

6.  But,  my  words  and  my  statutes  which  I  com- 
manded my  servants  the  prophets,  did  they  not  take 
hold  of  your  fathers?  And  they  returned  and  said,  Like 
as  the  Loed  of  hosts  thought  to  do  unto  us,  according  to 
our  ways  and  according  to  our  doings,  so  hath  he  dealt 
with  us. 

With  great  pertinence  and  force  the  Lord  exhorts  them  not  to 
be  as  their  fathers,  stiff-necked,  obdurate,  reckless  of  the  warnings 
and  entreaties  sent  them  of  God  by  the  former  prophets.  Where 
are  those  fathers  now  t  Gone  from  the  world  where  they  became 
so  fearfully  hardened  in  their  sins ;  gone  from  the  land  they  pol- 
luted by  their  abominations  and  cursed  by  their  persistence  in 
rebellion ;  gone  to  their  righteous  but  most  fearful  doom !  It  were 
well  for  the  children  to  think  often  of  those  fathers  and  ask,  Where 

are  they  ? The  prophets,  too,  having  served  their  generation 

amid  sore  trials  and  heart-griefs  unutterable,  had  gone  to  their 

blissful  reward.    Let  the  people  consider! Did  not  the  words 

which  God  sent  by  those  former  prophets  "  take  hold  of  your  fathers  ?" 
Did  they  slip  off  as  things  of  loose  grasp,  and  prove  void  of  re- 
sult? Did  not  those  awful  threatenings  hold  on,  and  have  not 
you  yourselves  seen  and  felt  the  terrible  judgments  which  those 


ZECHARIAH.— CHAF.   L„  297 

words  portended  ? They  themselves  were  forced  to  admit  this. 

They  returned  and  said,  i.  e.,  they  took  a  new  and  better  view  of 
the  case  under  the  pressure  of  appalling  facts,  and  then  they  said — 
All  that  God  thought  and  threatened  to  do  unto  us  as  a  nation,  he 
has  done  !     Let  their  children  take  warning ! 

7.  Upon  the  four  and  twentieth  clay  of  the  eleventh 
month,  which  is  the  month  Sebat,  in  the  second  year  of 
Darius,  came  the  word  of  the  Lord  unto  Zechariah,  the 
son  of  Barachiah,  the  son  of  Idclo  the  prophet,  saying, 

8.  I  saw  by  night,  and  behold  a  man  riding  npon  a 
red  horse,  and  he  stood  among  the  myrtle-trees  that  were 
in  the  bottom ;  and  behind  him  were  there  red  horses, 
speckled,  and  white. 

9.  Then  said  I,  O  my  lord,  what  are  these  ?  And 
the  angel  that  talked  with  me  said  imto  me,  I  will  shew 
thee  what  these  he. 

10.  And  the  man  that  stood  among  the  myrtle-trees 
answered  and  said,  These  are  they  whom  the  Lord  hath 
sent  to  walk  to  and  fro  through  the  earth. 

11.  And  they  answered  the  angel  of  the  Lord  that 
stood  among  the  myrtle-trees,  and  said,  We  have  walked 
to  and  fro  through  the  earth,  and  behold,  all  the  earth 
sitteth  still,  and  is  at  rest. 

12.  Then  the  angel  of  the  Lord  answered  and  said, 
O  Lord  of  hosts,  how  long  wilt  thon  not  have  mercy  on 
Jerusalem  and  on  the  cities  of  Judah,  against  which 
thou  hast  had  indignation  these  threescore  and  ten 
years  ? 

13.  And  the  Lord  answered  the  angel  that  talked 
with  me  with  good  words  and  comfortable  words. 

11.  So  the  angel  that  communed  with  me  said  unto 
me,  Cry  thou,  saying,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts ;  I 
am  jealous  for  Jerusalem  and  for  Zion  with  a  great 
jealousy. 

15.  And  I  am  very  sore  displeased  with  the  heathen 
that  are  at  ease :  for  I  was  but  a  little  displeased,  and 
they  helped  forward  the  affliction. 

16.  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  I  am  returned  to 
Jerusalem  with  mercies :  mine  house  shall  be  built  in  it, 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and  a  line  shall  be  stretched 
forth  upon  Jerusalem. 


293  ZECHAEIAH.— CHAP.  I. 

17.  Cry  yet,  saying,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  i 
My  cities  through  prosperity  shall  yet  be  spread  abroad  ;• 
and  the  Lord  shall  yet  comfort  Zion,  and  shall  yet  choose 
Jerusalem. 

These  verses  comprise  one  entire  and  distinct  vision,  the  first  in 
a  series,  and  of  symbolic  character.  The  symbols  represent  the 
executive  forces  by  which  the  Lord  administers  his  providential 
government  over  the  nations.  The  special  aim  here  is — (1.)  To 
assure  the  Hebrew  people  that  God  had  more  judgments  to  send  on 
the  nations  that  had  oppressed  them ;  and  (2.)  That  he  would  greatly 
augment  the  growth  and  prosperity  of  Zion.     So  much  for  the 

general  scope  of  the  passage. As  to  the  particulars,  let  us  note 

that  this  is  a    night- vision,  presented  to  the  mind's  eye  of  the 

prophet  by  special  divine  agencies. That  men  riding  on  horses 

are  used  to  represent  the  executive  forces  of  God's  reign  over  the 
nations  is  due  (we  may  suppose)  to  the  use  of  post-horses  as  vehicles 
of  the  royal  mandates,  as  the  nerves  of  communication  (so  to  speak) 
from  the  working  brain  on  the  throne  to  the  remotest  organs  of  his 
will  in  all  his  distant  provinces.  They  seem  to  be  thought  of  here 
rather  as  explorers  to  observe  and  report,  than  as  executioners. 

The  reader  will  better  understand  this  representation  if  he  will 

be  at  the  pains  to  classify  the  personages  of  the  scene — what  are 
sometimes  called  "  the  dramatis  personaa  " — thus :  (1.)  The  man 
riding  upon  a  red  horse  (v.  8),  who  stood  (on  horseback)  among  the 
myrtle-trees  in  the  shaded  vale,  at  the  head  of  others,  also  on  horses 
of  various  colors;  the  same  who  (v.  10)  explained  and  said,  "These 
are  they  whom  the  Lord  hath  sent,"  &c,  to  whom  the  other  horse- 
men report  (v.  11) ;  and  to  whom  prayer  is  offered  as  "the  Lord  of 
hosts  "  (v.  12) ;  and  who  answers  so  kindly  (v.  13).  This  can  be  no 
other  than  the  uncreated  angel — the  very  Son  of  God,  so  often  if 
not  always  the  God  revealed  and  made  manifest  in  all  the  ages 
before  his  incarnation.  (2.)  Xext  are  his  attendants,  on  horses, 
representing  angels  proper;  those  "ministers  of  his  who  do  his 
pleasure,"  and  whom  he  continually  employs  in  the  administration 
of  his  providential  government  on  earth.  They  appear  (v.  8)  where 
it  must  be  assumed  that  the  horses  have  riders  upon  them ;  also 
(v.  11),  they  report  what  they  have  seen  in  their  mission  to  and  fro 
through  the  earth.  (3.)  The  revealing  angel,  specially  attendant 
upon  the  prophet  as  his  interpreter,  usually  called  "  the  angel 
that  talked  with  me,"  e.  g.,  v.  9,  13,  and  also  in  v.  14,  where  our 
translators  have  given  the  same  Hebrew  word  another  rendering, 
"  that  communed  with  me."  It  is  the  same  angel  who  offers  the 
prayer  (v.  12),  since  the  answer  (v.  13)  is  given  to  him.  That  he 
offers  this  prayer  is  due  to  his  strong  sympathy  with  the  prophet, 

to  whom  he  was  a  sort  of  guardian  angel. This  grouping  of  the 

characters  of  this  scene  will  help  the  reader  to  understand  its  sig- 
nificance. The  horses  and  their  riders  are  seen  among  the  myrtle- 
trees  in  a  shady  vale— both  the  myrtles  and  the  vale  indicating  tho 


ZECHAMAIL— CHAP.  I.  299 

low  and  humble  condition  of  God's  people  and  kingdom,  especially 
at  that  time,  yet  showing  us  plainly  that  however  low  and  humble 
in  human  estimation,  God  was  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  did  not 
disdain  to  reveal  precisely  there  his  glorious  Son,  and  under  him 
the  angels  clothed  in  might  as  the  executive  servants  of  his  reign 

among  the  nations. No  other  speciality  of  meaning  can  be  safely 

assigned  to  the  color  of  these  horses,  except  that  red  commonly 
indicates  war-scenes  of  blood,  and  that  the  variety  may  suggest 
that  God's  agency  embraces  all  varieties  of  manifestation — curses 

and  blessings,  war  and  peace. The  prophet  asks  his  attendant 

angel  what  those  horses  and  their  riders  mean.  He  promises  to 
show  him,  but  the  statement  is  given  by  the  personage  first  seen  and 
standing  in  the  foreground  of  the  picture — the  Great  Uncreated 
Angel  of  Jehovah — "  These  are  they  whom  the  Lord  sends  to 
traverse  the  whole  earth."  Then  they  themselves  come  forward 
and  make  their  report  in  the  hearing  of  the  prophet :  "  We  have 
traversed  the  earth,  and  lo,  all  the  nations  are  still  and  at  rest." 
Even  those  great  powers  which  had  so  cruelly  oppressed  the  Jews 
were  not  receiving  their  deserved  retribution.     This  is  the  main 

point  of  their  report. Upon  this,  the  revealing  angel,  warming 

in  sympathy  with  the  prophet  and  his  people,  cries — "  How  long, 
O  Lord,  ere  thou  wilt  have  mercy  on  Jerusalem  and  on  Judah,  upon 
which  tliqu  hast  manifested  thine  indignation  now  seventy  years  ?  " 

To  this  the  Lord  answers  with  words  of  comfort  and  cheer. 

He  has   purposed  to   scourge  and    soon  to    destroy  that  fierce 

Chaldean  power,  and  lie  will   surely  lift  up  Jerusalem. V.  15 

may  be  paraphrased  thus:  "I  am  very  sore  displeased  with 
Chaldea  and  Edom :  I  was  comparatively  a  little  displeased  with 
my  people,  Judah  and  Jerusalem,  and  therefore  I  suffered  those 
powers  to  come  down  on  the  holy  city  and  land;  but  they  aug- 
mented that  infliction ;  they  gave  vent  to  their  cruel  and  vindictive 
spirit,  and  have  quite  overdone  the  work  which  I  commissioned 

them  to  do.     For  this,  they  are  to  have  a  fearful  doom." In 

v.  16,  the  Lord  promises  to  return  in  mercy  and  to  help  onward  the 
rebuilding  of  the  city;  and  in  v.  17,   that  the  population  should 

overpass  the  city  walls  and  fill  the  adjacent  country. "  Will  yet 

choose  Jerusalem  " — means,  will  yet  manifest  his  loving  choice  of 
her  by  appropriate  mercies. 

18.  Then  lifted  I  up  mine  eyes,  and  saw,  and  behold 
four  horns. 

19.  And  I  said  unto  the  angel  that  talked  with  me, 
"What  le  these?  And  he  answered  me,  These  are  the 
horns  which  have  scattered  Judah,  Israel,  and  Jerusalem. 

20.  And  the  Lord  shewed  me  four  carpenters. 

21.  Then  said  I,  What  come  these  to  do  ?  And  he 
spake,  saying,  These  are  the  horns  which  have  scattered 
Judah,  so  that  no  man  did  lift  up  his  head :  but  these 


300  ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  IT 

are  come  to  fray  them,  to  cast  out  trie  horns  of  the  Gen 
tiles,  which  lifted  irp  their  horn  over  the  land  of  Judah 
to  scatter  it. 

This  second  vision  is  closely  connected  in  significance  with  the 
first,  looking  especially  to  the  destruction  of  those  heathen  powers 
which  "had  scattered  Judah  and  Jerusalem."  The  "horn"  is  a 
natural  emblem  of  power.  The  number,  four,  does  not  count  so 
many  hostile  nations,  but  rather  means  all,  in  every  quarter  of  the 
earth,  toward  every  cardinal  point  of  the  compass,  who  have  been 

pushing  and  scattering  the  saints  of  God. The  word  rendered 

"carpenters,"  should  be  "smiths,"  workers  in  iron  or  other  met- 
als, and  therefore  armed  with  suitable  instruments  for  breaking 
horns.  The  word  "fray,"  mostly  obsolete  as  a  verb,  means  to 
frighten.  The  next  verb,  rendered  "  cast  out,"  has  a  stronger  sense 
— cast  down  to  the  ground,  so  as  altogether  to  paralyze  their  power 

for  harm. TJ^is  prediction  was  fulfilled  shortly  after.     Chaldea 

revolted  against  its  late  Medo-Persian  conquerors  during  the  reign 
of  this  same  Darius.  He  consequently  attacked  and  subdued  them, 
and  then  greatly  marred  the  military  strength  and  glory  of  Baby- 
lon. Thenceforward  Chaldea  was  no  more  felt  or  feared  as  a  power 
among  the  nations. 


CHAPTER    II. 

This  chapter  introduces  one  vision  and  has  but  a  single  theme. 
The  vision  presents  a  man  going  forth  to  measure  Jerusalem ;  but 
he  is  soon  stopped,  and  it  is  announced  that  Jerusalem  shall  be  so 
prosperous  and  populous  that  her  people  shall  overpass  her  former 
limits  and  fill  the  adjacent  country  with  unwalled  villages  (vs.  1-4). 
God  will  dwell  in  the  midst  of  her,  revealing  his  glory  there ;  her 
captive  children  are  exhorted  to  flee  out  of  Babylon  and  hasten 
home.  In  the  greatness  of  her  future  prosperity,  many  other 
nations  shall  join  themselves  unto  the  Lord  (vs.  5-13). 

1.  I  lifted  up  mine  eyes  again,  and  looked,  and 
behold  a  man  with  a  measuring  line  in  his  hand. 

2.  Then  said  I,  "Whither  goest  thou  ?  And  he  said 
unto  me,  To  measure  Jerusalem,  to  see  what  is  the 
breadth  thereof,  and  what  is  the  length  thereof. 

3.  And  behold,  the  angel  that  talked  with  me  went 
forth,  and  another  angel  went  out  to  meet  him, 

4.  And  said  unto  him,  Bun,  speak  to  this  young  man, 
saying,  Jerusalem  shall  be  inhabited  as  towns  without 
walls  for  the  multitude  of  men  and  cattle  therein : 

In  this  vision  a  man  is  seen  with  a  measuring  line,  going  forth 


ZECHARIAIL— CHAP.  IT.  301 

io  measure  Jerusalem — probably  its  dimensions  before  its  recent 
destruction — as  if  preparing  to  rebuild  it  on  tbe  same  foundations. 

The  angel  that  talked  with  the  prophet  went  forth  (/.  e.,  from 

the  prophet)  and  another  angel  came  forth  (it  may  be  supposed) 
from  the  Lord,  to  meet  him  and  to  say  to  him:  Hasten  to 
that  young  man  who  has  the  measuring  line,  and  tell  him  there 
is  no  occasion  to  measure  the  old  limits  of  the  city ;  the  new  one 
shall  spread  out  beyond  her  former  walls,  and  her  people  shall  live 
in  the  surrounding  country  without  walls,  because  of  the  multitude 

of  men  and  of  cattle. In  this  passage,  the  point  most  in  dispute 

among  critics  is  the  question — Who  is  this  "young  man"?  (v.  4). 
Some  say  he  is  the  prophet  Zechariah  ;  others,  that  he  is  the  "  man 
with  a  measuring  line  "  of  v.  1 — an  appropriate  work  for  an  active 
young  man.  I  incline  to  the  latter  view,  especially  because  v.  4 
implies  that  the  measurement  of  the  city  is  arrested  for  reasons 
there  given.  The  whole  scene  was  designed  to  impress  vividly 
upon  the  prophet  and  his  people  the  great  promise  of  God.  respect- 
ing the  growth,  prosperity,  and  glory  of  the  new  city,  and  ulti- 
mately of  that  spiritual  Zion  of  which  this  was  the  .  outward 
symbol. 

5.  For  I,  saith  the  Lord,  will  be  unto  her  a  wall  of 
fire  round  about,  and  will  be  the  glory  in  the  midst  of 
her. 

The  connection  of  thought  here  is  admirable :  Think  no  more 
of  walls  to  be  rebuilt  for  the  new  city,  nor  of  costly  outlays  to 
beautify  and  adorn  it ;  "  for  I,  saith  the  Lord,  will  be  myself  her 
wall,"  even  "a  wall  of  fire  round  about  her;  "  and  I  will  be  her 
adornment  also — even  "  a  glory  in  the  midst  of  her."  This  mag- 
nificent promise  we  cannot  suppose  to  have  been  exhausted  in  the 
days  of  Zechariah,  nor  in  the  entire  period  before  the  incarnation 
of  the  Son  of  God ;  but  preeminently  then  when  He,  the  great  In- 
carnation of  God,  became  manifest  in  human  flesh  in  the  midst  of 
his  Zion.  Yet  its  fulfilment  began  in  those  days  of  Zion's  reforma- 
tion and  rebuilding.  Our.  divine  Lord  reasserted  essentially  the 
same  thing  and  made  it  a  promise  of  perpetual  love  to  his  Church, 
when  he  said,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  to  the  end  of  the 
world." 

6.  Ho,  ho,  come  forth,  and  flee  from  the  land  of  the 
north,  saith  the  Lord  :  for  I  have  spread  you  abroad  as 
the  four  winds  of  the  heaven,  saith  the  Loud. 

7.  Deliver  thyself,  O  Zion,  that  dwellest  with  the 
daughter  of  Babylon. 

Tills  call  summons  all  Jews  still  remaining  in  Chaldea  to  return, 
especially  to  escape  from  the  judgments  God  was  soon  to  bring  on 
Babylon.  Babylon  is  "  the  land  of  the  north."  (See  Jer.  6  :  1-22, 
and  1G :  15.) This  call  to  escape  contemplates  (probably)  that 


oq2  ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  II. 

impending  devastation  of  Babylon  referred  to  in  the  notes  on  Zech. 

1  :-21. The  Lord  had  scattered  them  abroad  as  if  the  winds  from 

every  quarter  of  the  heavens  had  been  combined  for  this  work. 
This  is  the  most  natural  sense  of  the  words  "«s  the  four  winds  of 
heaven  "— i.  e.,  would  do  it.  So,  in  Isa.  64  :  G,  and  Job  30  :  15.  A 
different  phrase  is  used  to  express  the  sense— into  or  toward  the 
four  quarters  of  the  heavens  ;  as  in  Jer.  49 :  32-36. 

8.  For  thus  saith  the  Loud  of  hosts :  After  the  glory 
hath  He  sent  me  unto  the  nations  which  spoiled  you :  for 
he  that  toueheth  you  toucheth  the  apple  of  his  eye. 

Here  two  points  may  need  each  a  word  of  explanation,  viz.,  the 
sense  of  the  phrase  "after  the  glory,"  and  the  identification  of  the 

persons  "he"  and  "me,"  in  the  clause  "he hath  sent  me,"  &c. 

"After  the  glory"  is  an  elliptical,  shortened  phrase,  looking  to  v. 
5,  and  meaning  that  after  having  become  the  glory  of  Zlon  by  reveal- 
ing himself  as  her  king,  her  refuge,  and  protector,  it  folio  wed 
naturally  that  he  should  be  sent  to  scourge  the  nations  that  had 
spoiled  Jerusalem,  L  <?.,  the  Chaldeans,  and  perhaps  the  Edomites 

also. As  to  the  persons  "he"  and  "me,"  in  the  phrase  "he 

hath  sent  me,"  &c,  the  language  implies  that  the  speaker  who  calls 
himself  the  "Lord  of  hosts,"  has  been  sent  by  some  one  referred 
to  as  "he ;  "  uhe  hath  sent  me"  &c.  The  one  thus  "  sent  "  can  be 
no  other  than  the  leading  personage  in  the  vision  (1 :  8-13),  there 
seen  on  a  red  horse  (v.  8)  ;  to  whom  the  other  horsemen  report  (v. 
11) ;  to  whom  the  angel  interpreter  offers  prayer  (v.  12) ;  and 
moreover  the  same  personage  who  in  2  :  5  says,  "  I  will  be  a  glory 

in  the  midst  of  her,"  i.  e.,  the  Son  of  God. The  antecedent  of 

"  he  "  is  implied  in  thought,  rather  than  expressed  in  word ;  yet  can 
be  no  other  than  the  infinite  Father — often  represented  in  the  Scrip- 
tures as  sending  the  Son — here  on  a  mission  of  providential  judg- 
ments on  the  guilty  nations  that  had  desolated  Jerusalem. The 

reason  assigned  is  beautifully  significant  of  the  tenderness  of  even 
the  Father's  love  toward  his  people.  We  often  see  manifestations 
of  tenderness  in  Jesus  Christ  while  wearing  our  nature  in  its  hu- 
man weaknesses;  but  here  Jesus  says  of  his  Father — "He  that 
toucheth  you,  toucheth  the  apple  of  his  eye."  "Toucheth" — in 
the  sense  of  doing  harm.  The  apple  is  the  pupil  of  the  eye,  which 
the  Hebrews  call  the  little  man  of  the  eye,  or  as  here,  the  little  boy 
of  the  eye,  both  terms  coming  probably  from  the  fact  that,  looking 

into  the  eye,  you  see  a  miniature  picture  of.  yourself. Can  we 

realize  the  precious  truth  taught  here — that  God  feels  every  injury 
done  to  his  people,  as  we  feel  a  wound  in  the  apple  of  our  eye  ? 
Then  let  us  forever  dismiss  and  discard  the  cruel  assumption  that 
the  Infinite  God  has  little  or  no  sympathy  with  our  spiritual  life, 
with  the  real  welfare  of  his  people,  the  interests  of  his  truth,  and 
the  cause  of  human  salvation  ! 

0.  For,  behold,  T  will  shake  my  hand  upon  them, 


ZECHARIAII.— CHAP.  II.  303 

and  they  shall  bo  a  spoil  to  their  servants :  and  ye  shall 
know  that  the  Lord  of  hosts  hath  sent  me. 

Immanuel,  as  the  God  of  universal  providence,  sent  to  the  ua- 
tions  that  Lad  wasted  Zion,  here  declares  what  he  will  do,  and  calls 
special  attention  to  it:  "I  will  shake  or  wave  my  hand  over  them  " 
— so  much  only  being  necessary  to  indicate  to  the  executioners  of 
his  will  what  they  were  to  do  ;  and  "they  shall  become  a  spoil  to 
those  who  have  heretofore  been  their  servants ;  "  i.  e.,  the  nations 
some  time  in  servitude  under  Chaldea  now  rise  up,  overcome,  and 

spoil  her. Ye  shall  know  by  your  experience  of  divine  blessings 

that  my  commission  is  truly  divine. It  is  remarkable  that  the 

phrase  "the  Lord  of  hosts  "  is  used  interchangeably  of  the  Father 
and  the  Son  :  of  the  Father  here  ;  of  the  Son  in  v.  8,  and  elsewhere 
in  this  and  the  previous  chapter.  No  other  explanation  of  this  is 
needed  save  the  fact  that  this  name  is  equally  applicable  to  cither, 
and  that  the  Scriptures  in  some  cases  represent  the  Father  and  in 
some  cases  the  Son,  as  administering  the  government  of  this  world. 

10.  Sing  and  rejoice,  O  daughter  of  Zion :  for  lo,  I 
come,  and  1  will  dwell  in  the  midst  of  thee,  saith  the 
Lord. 

Closely  parallel  with  this  is  Zech.  9:9:  There — "  Eejoice  great- 
ly, O  daughter  of  Zion ;  shout,  O  daughter  of  Jerusalem ;  behold, 
thy  king  cometh  unto  thee,"&c.  Mere,  as  the  reader  will  see,  "  Sing 
and  rejoice,"  for  lo,  I  come  and  I  will  dwell  in  the  midst  of  thee, 
saith  the  Lord,  i.  e.,  Jehovah.  This  close  similarity  strengthens 
the  evidence  that  the  speaker  here  is  the  promised  Messiah,  and 
that  this  promised  coming  can  be  exhausted  in  nothing  less  than  his 
appearance  in  human  flesh,  and  indeed  in  nothing  less  than  his 
abiding  presence  (spiritually)  with  his  people  ikto  the  end  of  the 
world."  This  abiding  presence,  in  somewhat  lower  forms,  he  mani- 
fested from  the  time  of  Zechariah  onward  to  his  incarnation. 

All  this  is  indeed  occasion  for  exultant  joy. 

11.  And  many  nations  shall  be  joined  to  the  Lord  in 
that  day,  and  shall  be  my  people  :  and  I  will  dwell  in 
the  midst  of  thee,  and  thou  shalt  know  that  the  Lord  of 
hosts  hath  sent  me  nnto  thee. 

Christ's  coming  to  dwell  incarnate  and  subsequently  by  his 
Spirit,  the  Comforter,  would  result  in  the  calling  of  the  Gentiles 
into  his  Church,  and  ultimately  in  the  gathering  of  many  nations, 
and  in  their  becoming  joined  in  the  relationships  of  love  and  trust  to 
their  redeeming  Saviour  and  king. Here  recurs  again  that  ex- 
pressive phrase — "  Thou  shalt  know  "  (in  thine  own  blest  expe- 
rience) that  I  am  sent  of  the  Eternal  Father,  that  the  work  is  not 
mine  alone,  but  his  as  well — evermore  sustained  by  the  common 
sympathy  and  the  cooperative  agency  of  each  and  of  both. 


304 


ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  III. 


12.  And  the  Loud  shall  inherit  Judah  his  portion  in 
the  holy  land,  and  shall  choose  Jerusalem  again. 

"Inherit"  in  the  sense  of  having  them  as  indeed  his  own 
peculiar  people,  with  their  most  hearty  concurrence  and  \me 
devotion  to  his  service.  This  verse  manifestly  had  its  special  fulfil- 
ment in  the  nearer  future— already  apparent  in  the  time  of  this 
prophet. 

13.  Be  silent,  O  all  flesh,  before  the  Loed  :  for  he  is 

raised  up  out  of  his  holy  habitation. 

So  glorious  are  these  promises,  so  magnificent  and  momentous 
these  achievements,  that  the  prophet  gives  utterance  to  his  senseof 
the  impressive  presence  of  Jehovah,  who  works  them  all,  by  saying 
— "  Be  silent,  O  all  flesh,  before  "  such  a  God,  so  present  in  this 
guilty  world,  "  for  he  hath  roused  himself  up  from  his  holy  habita- 
tion," and  is  about  to  gird  himself  for  solemn  and  mighty  issues! 


CHAPTER    III. 

This  chapter  records  another  distinct  and  entire  vision,  in  which 
Joshua,  the  high  priest,  is  the  prominent  personage.  He  appears, 
not  in  his  own  person,  but  as  representing  the  priesthood,  and  par- 
ticularly in  their  depressed  condition  at  that  time.  The  vision  aims 
to  show  that  God  does  not  reject  but  forgives  and  restores  the 
priesthood,  and  indeed  will  at  length  make  it  perpetual  in  the  per- 
son of  his  Messiah. 

1.  And  he  shewed  me  Joshua  the  high  priest  stand- 
ing before  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  and  Satan  standing  at 
his  right  hand  to  resist  him. 

The  tense  of  the  Hebrew  verb  connects  this  verb  closely  with 
the  preceding :  "  And  then  he  caused  me  to  see  Joshua  the  high 
priest  standing,"  engaged  in  his  official  ministrations  before  the 
uncreated  angel  Immanuel;  and  Satan,  the  well-known  adversary 
of  God's  people,  standing  at  his  right  hand  to  act  the  Satan  against 
him — literally  to  " Satan''''  him —  the  Hebrew  for  Satan  meaning  to 
persecute,  oppose,  resist.  Bearing  in  mind,  that  the  high  priest  was 
by  virtue  of  his  office  a  representative  man,  officiating  for  the  peo- 
ple before  the  Lord,  and  remembering  the  low  estate  of  their  entire 
religious  system  at  this  time,  it  need  not  surprise  us  that  the  people 
should  be  sinfully  despondent  and  weak  of  faith.  Probably  this 
was  the  great  sin  which  is  here  represented  by  the  filthy  garments 
of  the  priest.  It  is  fully  in  character  for  Satan  to  take  advantage  of 
their  unbelief,  and  thrust  forward  his  plea  against  their  being  for- 
given or  in  any  wise  accepted  before  God.  He  dreaded  the  present 
and  prospective  revival  in  their  religious  state,  and  roused  himself 


ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  III.  3Q5 

(as  is  his  wont)  to  head  it  off  at  the  outset.  Is  not  he  a  very 
devil  ? 

2.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Satan,  The  Lord  rebuke 
thee,  O  Satan ;  even  the  Lord  that  hath  chosen  Jeru- 
salem rebuke  thee :  is  not  this  a  brand  plucked  out  of 
the  fire? 

He  who  in  v.  1  is  called  "the  angel  of  the  Lord,"  is  here  "  the 
Lord,"  "  Jehovah."  So  also  in  the  phrase  "  The  Lord  rebuke  thee," 
"Jehovah  "  is  the  word  for  "  Lord,"  showing  that  this  term  is  ap- 
plied interchangeably  to  both  the  Father  and  the  Son. The 

clause,  "  The  Lord  rebuke  thee,"  is  repeated,  both  for  the  greater 
emphasis,  and  in  order  to  connect  with  it  the  consolatory  words — 
he,  the  same  that  has  chosen  Jerusalem,  rebukes  thee.  The  term 
"  choose  "  here,  as  in  1 :  17  and  2  :  12,  implies  God's  special  love  for 

Jerusalem  as  representing  his  own  people. "Is  not  this  a  brand 

plucked  out  of  the  fire  ?  "  implies  that  after  the  fires  of  utter  destruc- 
tion were  already  kindled  upon  her,  the  Lord  plucked  her  out  and 
extinguished  the  fires.     Having  done  so  much  to  save  her  and  at 

such  personal  risk,  would  the  Lord  give  her  up  to  Satan  now  ?- 

This  language  is  used  by  Amos  (4: 10),  and  may  be  borrowed  from 

him. Commenting  on  these  verses,  Dr.  Henderson  raises  the 

question  as  to  the  ground  of  Satan's  opposition,  and  remarks  that 
the  passage  does  not  inform  us ;  but  that  he  finds  a  clue  to  it  in 
Jude  9,  in  which  passage  he  adopts  the  construction  which  resolves 
"the  body  of  Moses  "  into  the  Jewish  church,  and  assumes  a  refer- 
ence there  to  this  passage  in  Zechariah.  But  in  that  dispute  it  was 
Michael  the  archangel  who  contended  with  the  devil ;  in  this,  it  is 
the  Lord  Jehovah,  not  to  say  also  that  Jude's  language,  "  the  body 
of  Moses,"  should  by  no  means  be  made  to  mean  any  thing  else  but 
his  physical,  veritable  body,  without  good  reason.  The  literal 
sense,  if  admissible,  as  it  is  here,  has  the  prior  claim. 

3.  JSTow  Joshua  was  clothed  with  filthy  garments, 
and  stood  before  the  angel. 

4.  And  he  answered  and  spake  unto  those  that  stood 
before  him,  saying,  Take  away  the  filthy  garments  from 
him.  And  unto  him  he  said,  Behold,  I  have  caused 
thine  iniquity  to  pass  from  thee,  and  I  will  clothe  thee 
with  change  of  raiment. 

The  Mosaic  law  prescribed  the  priest's  garments  very  minute- 
ly, and  made  great  account  of  them  as  indicative  of  the  moral 
purity  requisite  in  those  who  came  before  God.  Here  the  filthy 
garments  represent  the  sins  of  the  people,  probably  (as  suggested' 
above)  their  unbelief  and  despondency  at  that  time,  and  their  long 
and  guilty  wanderings  from  God  into  idolatry  in  past  time,  from, 
which  they  were   only  now  returning. He  stood  before  the 


ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  III. 

divine  angel  who,  in  v.  4,  pardons  sin.  This  divine  personage  says 
to  his  attendant  angels:  "Take  those  filthy  garments  away;"  and 
to  Joshua,  "  See,  I  have  cansed  thine  iniquity  to  pass  from  thee,  and 
I  will  clothe  thee  with  festive  garments,"  such  as  the  priests  should 
wear  on  holy  days.  This  removing  of  his  sin  is  a  representative 
thing,  its  import  heing,  not  that  the  Lord  forgives  his  personal  sin, 
hut  rather  the  sins  of  the  people,  and  practically  reinaugurates  the 
long  disused  functions  of  the  priesthood.  As  if  he  would  say  to  all 
the  people  :  "Beturn  to  the  modes  of  worship  enjoined  upon  your 
fathers  in  the  wilderness;  your  own  covenant-keeping  God  will 
hear  your  prayers  and  accept  your  offerings  through  the  High 
Priest  of  his  own  appointment.  The  great  sins  of  your  nation  he- 
fore  and  during  the  captivity  are  forgiven,  and  again  the  way  is 
open  to  you  for  acceptable  worship  before  him  and  for  confidence 

in  his  love." V.   4  commences:  "He"  (the   angel    Jehovah) 

"answered."  But  the  narrative  has  nothing  that  called  for  an 
answer.  Frequently,  in  both  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New,  the 
word  "  answer  "  refers  to  something  thought  but  not  expressed  ;  in 
the  present  case,  to  the  silent  prayer  of  Joshua  standing  before  the 
Lord  as  a  sinner,  that  God  would  forgive  him.  To  this  unuttered 
prayer  the  answer  comes. 

5.  And  I  said,  Let  them  set  a  fair  mitre  upon  his 
head.  So  they  set  a  fair  mitre  upon  his  head,  and 
clothed  him  with  garments.  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord 
stood  by. 

The  original  word,  rendered  "I  said,"  Dr.  Henderson  thinks 
should  have  its  vowels  changed  so  as  to  read,  "And  he  "  (the  Lord) 
"said.11  He  pleads  for  this  change  on  the  ground  that  it  would  be 
impertinent  for  the  prophet  to  speak  here.  1  do  not  see  force  enough 
in  this  objection  to  justify  a  change  of  the  text.  The  prophet's  re- 
quest I  attribute  to  his  deep  sympathy  with  the  transaction — a  sym- 
pathy upon  which  his  Lord  would  not  frown,  and  which  in  his  eye 

would  readily  atone  for  any  seeming  impertinence. The  prophet 

saying  in  his  heart  as  he  saw  the  filthy  garments  taken  away,  "  That 
is  good,"  begged  that  his  head-dress  might  be  changed  as  well.  His 
request  was  at  once  complied  with. In  the  last  clause,  some  sup- 
pose that  the  angel  of  the  Lord  stood  by,  as  supervising  the  transac- 
tion till  all  was  complete,  thus  expressing  his  deep  personal  interest; 
while  others  render  it  simply  stood,  as  if  he  rose  up  preparatory  to 
the  solemn  asseveration  recorded  in  the  next  verse.  I  prefer  the 
former  construction,  with  our  English  version. 

6.  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  protested  unto  Joshua, 
saying, 

7.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts ;  If  thou  wilt  walk 
in  my  ways,  and  if  thou  wilt  keep  my  charge,  then  thou 
shalt  also  judge  my  house,  and  shalt  also  keep  my  courts, 


ZECHARIAH.— CHAP    III.  30-7 

and  I  will  give  thee  places  to  walk  among  these  that 

stand  by. 

The  word  rendered  "  protest "  means  to  affirm  with  special  so- 
lemnity, to  asseverate. In  the  word  "  charge,"  the  margin  is 

more  true  to  the  original,  "ordinance."  Our  translators  seem  to 
have  misapprehended  the  word  rendered  "  places  to  walk."  *  It 
is  a  participle,  with  the  sense  of  guides,  attendants,  who  shall  aid  you 
to  walk — cause  you  to  walk  safely.  They  are  to  come  from  among 
"these  that  stand  hy  " — his  own  attendant,  ministering  angels.  It  is 
a  plain  promise  of  the  aid  of  ministering  angels.  The  essential  mean- 
ing of  the  verse  is  clear :  "  If  thou  art  both  obedient  and  faithful, 
thou  shalt  be  established  in  the  priesthood,  thy  services  shall  be  ac- 
cepted before  me,  and  thou  shalt  have  ministering  angels  to  lead 
and  aid  thee  in  thy  work." 

8.  Hear  now,  O  Joshua  the  high  priest,  thon  and  thy 
fellows  that  sit  before  thee  :  for  they  are  men  wondered  at : 
for  behold,  I  will  bring  forth  my  servant  The  BRANCH. 

This  call  of  Joshua's  special  attention  implies  that  statements  are 
to  be  made  of  things  highly  important.  The  word  rendered  "  thy 
fellows,"  means  thy  associates  in  the  priesthood,  the  subordinate 
priests  who  served  under  the  general  direction  of  the  high  priest. 

In  the  rendering  "  they  are  men  wondered  at,"  few  readers 

would  be  likely  to  see  the  true  idea,  which  is — they  are  men  of 
typical  character,  men  who  are  significant  signs  or  representatives 
of  the  great  intercession,  performed  for  God's  people  by  Jesus  Christ, 
their  Great  High  Priest.  The  most  literal  rendering  is  "  men  of 
wonder."  Seethe  same  use  of  the  word,  Isa.  8:  18  and  20  :  3  ;  Ezek. 
12  :  6,  11,  and  24:  24,  27.  In  this  line  of  thought  the  prophet  gives  a 
striking  prediction  of  the  Messiah.  The  course  of  thought  is  :  "  Hear 
and  give  special  heed,  O  Joshua,  thou  high  priest,  and  thy  attendant 
priests  also,  for  ye  are  all  typical  men ;  for  lo,  I  shall  soon  cause  to 

appear  among    men  my  servant  the    Branch !  " The   original 

for  "bring  forth"  does  not  refer  specifically  to  his  human  birth 
of  a  virgin,  but  to  his  being  caused  to  come  down  to  our  world,  and 

so  to  appear  among  men. The  word  "branch"  should  not  carry 

our  thought  to  a  branch  in  the  sense  of  Umh,  as  one  among  many 
on  the  same  tree,  but  to  the  one  shoot  which  springs  up  from  the 
root,  and  which,  though  small  at  first,  becomes  a  tree  of  wonderful 
qualities.  The  word  seems  to  be  chosen  because  it  well  expresses 
the  humble  origin  of  the  Messiah,  and  the  small  beginnings  of  his 
work,  and  also  his  descent  from  the  stock  of  David  as  to  his  human 
nature.  It  occurs  as  a  name  for  the  Messiah  in  Isa.  4:2;  Jer.  23  :  5 
and  33  :  15  ;  and  Zech.  G  :  12.  "  My  servant "  is  also  a  well-known 
designation  of  the  Messiah,  occurring  Isa.  42  : 1,  and  49  :  3,  5,  6,  and 
52 :  13,  and  53 :  11.    The  earliest  Jewish  expositors  known  to  usin- 


308 


ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  III. 


terpret  this  passage  of  the  Messiah.  The  Chaldean  Paraphrase 
(older  than  the  Christian  era)  reads  it:  "Behold,  I  bring  my  servant 
the  Messiah,  who  will  be  revealed." 

9.  For  behold  the  stone  that  I  have  laid  before 
Joshua ;  upon  one  stone  shall  he  seven  eyes :  behold,  I 
will  engrave  the  graving  thereof,  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts,  and  I  will  remove  the  iniquity  of  that  land  in 
one  day.' 

This  verse  brings  forward  another  great  truth,  manifestly  re- 
garded as  one  of  high  importance,  since  special  attention  is  called 

to  it.     The  first  and  main  inquiry  is,  What  is  this  "stone"? 

Note  what  is  said  of  it.  It  is  laid  before  the  high  priest  Joshua, 
manifestly  to  be  under  his  care ;  the  seven  eyes  of  God— his  perfect 
eye — are  upon  it ;  it  is  not  a  stone  to  be  built  on,  but  to  be  en- 
graved— wrought  with  the  chisel  into  forms  of  beauty ;  and  finally, 
the  real  thing  signified  by  it  must  have  some  natural  connection 
with  the  great  work  of  Christ's  atonement,  in  which,  by  one  offer- 
ing, "in  one  day,"  he  bore  away  the  sins  of  men.  All  these  con- 
ditions cannot  be  fulfilled  in  the  foundation  stone  of  the  temple, 
although  not  improbably  the  stones  of  the  temple  suggested  this 
figure  of  a  stone.  They  are,  however,  all  fulfilled  in  the  living 
Church  of  God,  and  in  nothing  else.  God's  Church  was  then  "  laid 
before  Joshua,"  in  the  sense  of  being  put  under  his  charge  ;  then, 
as  ever,  the  perfect  eye  of  God  was  upon  it;  its  engraving  into 
forms  of  spiritual  beauty  is  eminently  God's  work  by  the  chisel  of 
his  providence,  and  by  the  agency  of  his  Spirit ;  and  finally,  the 
sins  of  this  Church  Christ  took  away  by  that  one  offering  of  him- 
self on  Calvary. By  a  figure  somewhat  analogous  to  this,  Chris- 
tians are  said  to  be  "the  temple  of  the  living  God  "  (2  Cor.  6  :  1G), 
and  "his  building"  (1  Cor.  3:  9),  and  "living  stones,  built  up  a 
spiritual  house  "(1  Peter  2:5). The  passage  Zech.  4:  10  defi- 
nitely alludes  to  this  verse,  and  asserts  that  "they  are  the  eyes  of 
the  Lord,  which  run  to  and  fro  through  the  whole  earth."  The 
usage  of  accounting  seven  as  the  perfect  number  seems  to  have  been 
oriental,  and  not  merely  Jewish — pervading  the  literature  of  the 

East,  and  not  restricted  to  Palestine. These  truths  were  well 

adapted  to  inspire  the  people  with  fresh  confidence  in  God  as  their 
present  Friend  and  Guardian,  interested  evermore  in  the  spiritual 
culture  of  his  people,  and  purposing  to  use  the  priesthood  again,  as 
in  early  days,  as  his  instrument  in  the  spiritual  training  of  his  peo- 
ple ;  and  at  the  same  time  signifying  that  a  more  perfect  atonement 
would  be  made — finished  and  complete — "in  one  day,"  and  not 
needing,  therefore,  perpetual  sacrifices,  year  by  year,  which  never 
could  do  their  work  perfectly.  (See  Heb.  7:27,  9:9,  25,  2G,  and 
10 : 1-4.) 

10.  In  that  day,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  shall  ye  call 


ZECHARIAII.— CHAP.  IV.  309 

every  man  his  neighbor  nnder  the  vine  and  under  the 
fig-tree. 

In  that  future  day,  when  the  Messiah  shall  be  revealed,  "  the 
iniquity  of  his  people  be  taken  away  in  one  day,"  and  their  spir- 
itual discipline  be  made  effective  to  their  sanctification,  there 
will  be  superabounding  joy  and  blessedness,  beautifully  represented 
here  by  the  common  Jewish  conception  of  reposing  in  peace  and  in 

love  under  the  vine  and  the  fig-tree. The  last  words  of  the  verse 

— "  under  the  vine  and  under  the  fig-tree  " — are  given  here  as  the 
very  language  of  the  call.  Every  man  shall  cry  to  his  neighbor, 
"  Ho !  under  the  vine  and  under  the  fig-tree ;  "  come  and  let  us 
have  peace  and  rest,  enjoying  the  gifts  of  our  bountiful  God ! 


CHAPTER    IV. 

This  chapter  is  another  complete  vision,  having  one  set  of  sym- 
bols, illustrating  one  leading  truth,  viz.,  that  the  only  perpetual 
fountain  of  power  for  spiritual  life  and  labor  is  in  God,  and  reaches 
man  through  his  Spirit. 

1.  And  the  angel  that  talked  with  me  came  again, 
and  waked  me,  as  a  man  that  is  wakened  ont  of  his  sleep, 

This  verse  has  special  interest,  because  of  the  analogy  it  gives 
us  to  illustrate  the  mental  state  of  the  prophet  while  enjoying  pro- 
phetic visions.  His  angel  interpreter  came  and  "  waked  him," 
arousing  his  mind  into  a  new  state  of  activity,  corresponding  to  the 
ordinary  change  from  sleeping  to  waking.  Of  course,  it  is  only  by 
experience  that  any  one  can  know  every  thing  pertaining  to  this 
prophetic  state.  Its  powers  must  be  quite  analogous  to  those  of  a 
new  tense,  and  we  do  not  need  to  be  told  that  each  of  our  five 
senses  must  give  its  own  sensations  and  impressions.  No  one  of 
them  can  perform  this  service  for  another ;  the  eye  cannot  give  us 
sounds,  nor  the  ear  colors.  TVe  must  have  the  prophetic  sense  be- 
fore we  can  hope  to  have  the  prophetic  sensations  or  impressions,  or 
to  lenow  them  perfectly. 

2.  And  said  imto  me,  "What  seest  thon  ?  And  I  said, 
I  have  looked,  and  behold  a  candlestick  all  of  gold, 
with  a  bowl  npon  the  top  of  it,  and  his  seven  lamps 
thereon,  and  seven  pipes  to  the  seven  lamps,  which  are 
npon  the  top  thereof : 

3.  And  two  olive-trees  by  it,  one  npon  the  right  side 
of  the  bowl,  and  the  other  npon  the  left  side  thereof. 

In  this  vision  the  symbols  and  their  meaning  are  plain.  Chris- 
tians are  the  lights  of  the  world.     Churches  are  candlesticks,  and 


310 


ZECHARIAH.— CIIAP.   IV. 


their  members  luminous  bodies,  candles  or  lamps,  revealing  light 

concerning  God  in  this  otherwise  very  dark  world. Here,  Chen, 

are  one  golden  candlestick;  a  bowl  or  reservoir  on  the  top  of  it,  to 
contain  oil ;  two  olive-trees,  one  on  each  side,  for  supplying  the  oil ; 
and  pipes  or  tubes  (v.  2  seems  to  say  seven  in  number,  and  v.  12 
two),  to  carry  the  oil  from  the  tree  to  the  reservoir.  This  is  essen- 
tially the  apparatus  for  supplying  light.  That  the  candlestick  is 
all  of  gold  indicates  its  excellence— the  value,  in  God's  sight,  of  the 
Church,  and  of  living,  shining  Christians. 

4.  So  I  answered  and  spake  to  the  angel  that  talked 
with  me,  saying,  What  are  these,  my  lord  ? 

5.  Then  the  angel  that  talked  with  me  answered  and 
said  unto  me,  Knowest  thou  not  what  these  be  1  And 
I  said,  No,  my  lord. 

6.  Then  he  answered  and  spake  unto  me,  saying, 
This  is  the  word  of  the  Lord  unto  Zerubbabel,  saying, 
Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  the 
Lokd  of  hosts. 

These  symbols,  interpreted  into  literal  language,  amount  to  this 
word  which  the  Lord  sends  to  Zerubbabel,  then  the  governor  of 
Judah,  and  in  charge  of  the  great  work  then  present  and  pressing — 
the  rebuilding  of  the  temple:  "Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but 
by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord."  The  work  upon  which  you  labor 
seems  to  you  very  difficult — often,  perhaps,  too  great  for  your  re- 
sources; but  know  that  success  is  not  by  any  human  power  alone, 
but  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  This  Spirit  supplies  the  oil  that  feeds  the 
lamps.  Christian  souls  and  religious  institutions  correspond  to  the 
lamps  and  to  the  machinery  which  supplies  them ;  but  the  living 
fountain  of  oil  is  of  the  Lord  alone  by  his  Spirit.  This  is  the  pre- 
cious doctrine  of  the  New  Testament  as  well  as  of  the  Old.  Paul 
loved  to  say,  man  may  labor,  "  God  alone  giveth  the  increase."  (See 
1  Cor.  3 :  5-9.) 

7.  Who  art  thou,  O  great  mountain  ?  before  Zerub- 
babel thou  shalt  become  a  plain :  and  he  shall  bring 
forth  the  headstone  thereof  with  shoutings,  crying,  Grace, 
grace,  unto  it. 

Obstacles,  high  and  strong  as  great  mountains,  may  seem  to 
block  the  prosecution  of  this  work;  but  say  in  the  hearing  of  your 
governor,  "Who  art  thou,  great  mountain,"  that  thou  shouldst 
think  to  withstand  this  work  of  God  ?  "  Before  Zerubbabel  become 
thou  a  plain !  " — a  summons  to  the  great  mountain  of  difficulty  and 
opposition  to  lie  low  before  the  Lord's  servant,  and  cease  to  retard 

his  efforts. The  "headstone"  seems  most  naturally  to  mean  the 

crowning  topstone,  put  on  at  the  completion  of  the  temple.  This 
would  be  put  on  with  loud  ascriptions  of  praise  to  divine  grace  for 


ZECHAPJAH.— CHAP.  IV.  31 X 

the  effective  power  which  had  carried  the  work  through  to  its  final 
consummation. 

8.  Moreover  tlie  word  of  the  Lokd  came  unto  me, 
saying,  ^  ^ 

9.  The  hands  of  Zerubbabel  have  laid  the  foundation 
of  this  house ;  his  hands  shall  also  finish  it ;  and  thou 
shalt  know  that  the  Lord  of  hosts  hath  sent  me  unto  you. 

This  message  translates  into  literal  language  the  symbols  of  the 
vision  (vs.  2,  3,  11-14),  and  the  strong  poetic  imagery  of  v.  7. 
Through  mercy  and  help  from  God,  Zerubbabel  shall  finish  the 
building  of  the  temple,  and  the  people  shall  know,  when  they  ex- 
perience this  fulfilment,  that  the  Lord  has  truly  sent  his  prophet  to 
them. 

10.  For  who  hath  despised  the  day  of  small  things  ? 
for  they  shall  rejoice,  and  shall  see  the  plummet  in  the 
hand  of  Zerubbabel  with  those  seven  ;  they  are  the  eyes 
of  the  Loed,  which  run  to  and  fro  through  the  whole 
earth. 

■  Here  is  an  additional  word  to  those  who  have  been  greatly  dis- 
couraged in  the  rebuilding  of  the  temple  and  painfully  impressed 
by  its  insignificance,  compared  with  the  greatness  and  splendor  of 
the  former  one.  I  translate — "For  who  have  despised  the  day  of 
small  things?  Let  them  rejoice  when  they  see  the  plumb-lead  in 
the  hands  of  Zerubbabel ;  those  seven — the  eyes  of  the  Lord  are 

they,  ranging  through  all  the  earth." The  words  "  those  seven  " 

are  somewhat  abrupt,  but  manifestly  refer  to  the  passage  (3  :  9), 
"  Upon  one  stone  are  seven  eyes ;  "  and  they  are  immediately  ex- 
plained to  be  the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  which  never  fail  to  see  any  of 
the  least  possible  things  in  all  tlie  earth.  They  traverse  the  uni- 
verse, and  take  cognizance  of  every  thing.  Let  the  disheartened 
dismiss  their  despondency  when  they  see  the  plumb-line  in  the 
hands  of  Zerubbabel  for  laying  out  this  temple  work,  and  especially 
when  they  consider  that  the  perfect  eye  of  the  All-seeing  One  is 
upon  him,  and  that  his  universal,  almighty  agency  guarantees  the 

execution  of  this  work. Dr.  Henderson,  by  severely  inverting 

the  order  of  the  words,  translates  thus:  "/Who  hath  despised  the 
day  of  small  things?  For  those  seven  eyes  of  Jehovah,  which  run 
to  and  fro  through  the  whole  earth,  rejoiced  wdien  they  saw  the 
plummet  in  the  hand  of  Zerubbabel."  He  would  make  this  the 
sense :  Let  no  man  think  lightly  of  that  over  which  God  rejoices. 

But  I  very  much  prefer  the  construction  given  first  in  order 

above,  not  only  because  it  follows  the  order  of  the  words  without 
any  violent  inversion,  but  because  it  avoids  the  harshness  of  saying 
that  k'the  eyes  of  God  rejoiced ;  "  and,  yet  further,  because  the  eyes 
of  God  are  introduced  here,  not  as  themselves  rejoicing,  but  as  a  rea- 
son why  his  people  should  rejoice,  and  why  they  should  trust  implicit- 


312  ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  V. 

ly  in  his  promise  to  carry  the  work  through.  This  most  vital  idea  is 
missed  and  lost  in  Dr.  Henderson's  translation. 

11.  Then  answered  I,  and  said  unto  him,  "What  are 
these  two  olive-trees  upon  the  right  side  of  the  candle- 
stick and  upon  the  left  side  thereof? 

12.  And  I  answered  again,  and  said  unto  him,  "What 
he  these  two  olive  branches  which  through  the  two  gold- 
en pipes  empty  the  golden  oil  out  of  themselves  ? 

13.  And  he  answered  me  and  said,  Knowest  thou 
not  what  these  he  f     And  I  said,  ]STo,  my  lord. 

14.  Then  said  he,  These  are  the  two  anointed  ones, 
that  stand  by  the  Lord  of  the  whole  earth. 

The  prophet  still  seeks  a  fuller  explanation  of  the  two  olive- 
trees  and  of  the  olive  clusters  in  the  symbolic  vision,  and  at  last 
obtains  it.  They  represent  the  two  anointed  ones  (Heb.  "  sons  of 
oil "),  by  which  I  understand  the  two  anointed  orders — the  civil 
rulers  and  the  priests.  Both  of  these  classes  were  inaugurated  into 
their  work  by  being  anointed  with  oil — the  significance  being  the 
same  in  each  case,  viz.,  that  God  imparts  the  graces  of  his  Spirit  to 

qualify  them  for  the  functions  of  their  office. 1  prefer  to  apply 

the  phrase,  "  the  two  anointed  ones,"  to  the  two  orders,  kings  and 
priests,  rather  than  to  the  two  individuals  then  filling  those  offices,  Ze- 
rubbabel  and  Joshua,  because  this  provision  for  oil  through  these 
conducting  tubes  was  not  transient,  limited  to  the  lifetime  of  these 
two  men,  but  permanent — to  continue  so  long  as  God  should  give 
them  kings  and  priests ;  and  especially  because  permanence  was  a 
cardinal  idea  in  the  symbol.  Its  special  intent  was  to  show  that  the 
God  of  Israel  still  honored  his  own  institutions  as  of  old,  and  would 

do  so  onward  into  the  distant  future. These  anointed  kings  and 

priests  stand  before  rather  than  "  by  "  the  Lord  of  the  whole  earth 
— standing  being  the  appropriate  attitude  for  servants  in  the  pres- 
ence of  their  masters,  preeminently  so  for  the  servants  of  the  Most 
High  God. 


CHAPTER    V. 

This  chapter  comprises  two  visions — a  flying  roll,  and  a  woman 
sitting  in  an  ephah — both  denoting  the  judgments  of  God  on  his 
chosen  people,  considered  as  having  filled  up  the  measure  of  their 
iniquities. 

1.  Then  I  turned,  and  lifted  up  mine  eyes,  and 
looked,  and  behold  a  flying  roll. 

2.  And  he  said  unto  me,  What  seest  thou?     And  I 


ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  V.  313 

answered,  I  see  a  flying  roll ;  the  length  thereof  is 
twenty  cubits,  and  the  breadth  thereof  ten  cubits. 

This  roll  is  to  be  thought  of  as  being  the  ancient  form  of  book  or 
volume,  made  of  parchment  or  prepared  skins;  but  immensely 
large,  the  dimensions  being  those  of  the  porch  in  front  of  Solomon's 
temple.  (See  1  Kings  6  :  3.)  This  correspondence  cannot  be  sup- 
posed to  be  accidental.  Hence  we  must  conclude  it  was  intended  to 
intimate  that  this  "  fiery  law  "  and  its  judgments  come  forth  from 

their  God,  who  dwelt  in  the  temple. That  it  was  seen  "flying," 

showed  that  it  hastened  to  its  work.  Ezekiel's  roll  (2 :  8-10)  prob- 
ably suggested  this  symbol. 

3.  Then  said  he  nnto  me,  This  is  the  cnrse  that 
goeth  forth  over  the  face  of  the  whole  earth  :  for  every 
one  that  stealeth  shall  be  cnt  off  as  on  this  side,  accord- 
ing to  it ;  and  every  one  that  sweareth  shall  be  cnt  off  as 
on  that  side,  according  to  it. 

This  further  explanation  shows  that  this  flying  roll  symbolizes  the 
curse  of  the  Almighty  going  forth  over  the  earth  for  execution  upon 
the  guilty.  The  roll,  like  Ezekiel's,  was  written  on  both  sides,  and 
it  would  seem  that  the  first  table  of  the  law  was  written  on  one 
side — the  second  on  the  other.  The  case  of  the  false  swearer  repre- 
sents all  sins  against  the  precepts  of  the  first  table ;  the  case  of  the 
thief,  all  sins  against  the  second.  According  to  the  high  behest  of 
this  law  of  God,  now  going  forth  to  punish  violations  against  itself, 
the  thief  is  cut  off  according  to  the  law  written  on  one  side ;  the 
swearer,  according  to  the  law  written  on  the  other. 

•  4.  I  will  bring  it  forth,  said  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and  it 
shall  enter  into  the  house  of  the  thief,  and  into  the 
house  of  him  that  sweareth  falsely  by  my  name  :  and  it 
shall  remain  in  the  midst  of  his  house,  and  shall  consume 
it  with  the  timber  thereof  and  the  stones  thereof. 

The  Lord  brings  forth  this  flying  roll,  and  causes  it  to  enter  the 
house  of  every  sinner  against  the  law  of  God.  It  abides  there,  and 
utterly  consumes  every  vestige  of  his  habitation — a  terribly  vivid 
representation  of  God's  judgments  upon  all  unpardoned  sin  !  To 
think  of  the  law  itself  as  written  out,  and  its  written  record  then 
armed  with  power  to  search  out  every  sinner,  enter  into  his  house  and 
there  consume  every  thing — all  his  ill-gotten  wealth,  the  last  crumb 
of  his  accumulated  comforts,  and  finally  himself — this  surely  must 
imply  a  ruin  for  the  guilty  from  which  there  can  be  no  escape,  and 
in  which  there  can  be  no  alleviation. 

5.  Then  the  angel  that  talked  with  me  went  forth, 
and  said  nnto  me,  Lift  up  now  thine  eyes,  and  see  what 
is  this  that  goeth  forth. 
14 


314  ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  V. 

6.  And  I  saidj  What  is  it  ?  And  he  said,  This  is  an 
ephah  that  goeth  forth.  He  said  moreover,  This  is  their 
resemblance  through  all  the  earth. 

7.  And  behold,  there  was  lifted  up  a  talent  of  lead : 
and  this  is  a  woman  that  sitteth  in  the  midst  of  the 
ephah. 

8.  And  he  said,  This  is  wickedness.  And  he  cast  it 
into  the  midst  of  the  ephah ;  and  he  cast  the  weight  of 
lead  upon  the  mouth  thereof. 

A  new  scene  opens.  The  first  apparent  object  is  an  ephah,  the 
largest  Hebrew  dry  measure,  corresponding  to  the  common  corn- 
basket  of  onr  country,  containing  by  one  computation  one  and 
one-ninth  bushels,  and  by  another  one  and  one-half.  This  is  seen 
"  going  forth,"  as  if  this  also,  like  the  flying  roll,  was  hastening 
to  execute  its  mission.  We  shall  probably  best  reach  the  sense 
of  this  symbol  if  we  remember  that  the  Scripture  speaks  of  sin- 
ners as  "  filling  up  the  measure  "  of  their  iniquities  (Matt.  23  :  32, 
and  1  Thess.  2:16).  Here  is  the  largest-sized  measure.  A  wo- 
man sits  in  it,  who  is  explained  to  represent  or  symbolize  "  wicked- 
ness"— the  sins,  or,  yet  more  precisely,  the  sinners  of  the  covenant 
people.  The  female  person  is  a  common  symbol  in  the  Scriptures 
for  a  city  with  its  masses  of  people,  e.  g.,  Babylon  (Jer.  50  and  51 ; 
Eev.  16 :  19  and  18  :  2-11),  Jerusalem  (Lam.  1 : 1  ff).  This  woman, 
therefore,  represents. strictly  the  Jewish  people  apostate  from  God, 
having  filled  the  measure  of  their  iniquities,  and  now  about  to  re- 
ceive due  retribution. She  is  first  seen  (v.  7)  sitting  in  the  midst 

of  this  large  measure.  Then  he  throws  her  down  ("  he  "  is  God's 
minister  of  vengeance)  into  the  midst  or  bottom  of  the  vessel,  and 
casts  a  weight  of  lead  upon  the  mouth  of  the  vessel,  manifestly  to 

hold  her  down  and  prevent  her   escape. The  word  rendered 

"talent,"  i.  e.,  of  lead,  means  a  large  round  lump,  probably  large 

enough  for  its  purpose,  i.  e.,  to  fill  the  mouth  of  the  vessel. The 

clause  "This  is  their  resemblance  through  all  the  earth,"  is  inter- 
preted variously.  The  original  wor.d  is  the  common  one  for  eye. 
Some  manuscripts,  however,  and  other  authorities,  make  a  alight 
change  in  the  word  itself,  by  which  it  would  mean  sin.  Not  improb- 
ably this  change  began  with  the  attempt  of  some  critic  to  make  a  diffi- 
cult text  more  easy. The  reading  eye  some  explain  to  mean  their 

intent,  the  thing  they  have  their  eye  upon,  viz.,  to  sin  on  without 
restraint,  and  fill  up  the  measure  of  their  iniquities.  Others  render, 
as  our  received  version  does,  "  their  resemblance  "  or  appearance, 
what  they  look  like  everywhere.  In  this  sense  of  the  word  the 
clause  would  mean  that  all  over  the  land  the  moral  condition  of  the 
people  who  have  filled  up  the  measure  of  their  sins  is  well  repre- 
sented by  a  large  vessel,  and  a  woman,  personifying  the  whole  sin- 
ning people,  thrown  down  and  confined  in  it,  and  awaiting  her 


ZECIIARIAII.— CHAP.   V.  315- 

doom.  The  ultimate  meaning  of  the  vision  is  much,  the  same, 
whichever  of  these  two  senses  shall  be  given  to  the  word  in  ques- 
tion. The  latter  certainly  gives  a  good  sense  ;  the  former  is  not  bad^ 

9.  Then  lifted  I  up  mine  eyes,  and  looked,  and  be- 
hold, there  came  out  two  women,  and  the  wind  was  in 
their  wings  ;  for  they  had  wings  like  the  wings  of  a  stork  : 
and  they  lifted  up  the  ephah  between  the  earth  and 
^he  heaven. 

10.  Then  said  I  to  the  angel  that  talked  with  me, 
Whither  do  these  bear  the  ephah.  % 

11.  And  he  said  unto  me,  To  build  it  an  house  in  the 
land  of  Shinar  :  and  it  shall  be  established,  and  set  there 
upon  her  own  base. 

Two  women  (are  they  not  angelic  forms?) — two,  because  so  large 
a  burden  required  one  on  each  side — come  forth,  the  wind  in  their 
wings  to  indicate  the  most  rapid  motion ;  and  they  bear  the  ephah 
containing  this  woman  far  away  into  the  land  of  Shinar  (Babylon), 

to  fix  for  it  there  a  permanent  abode. The  main  question  here  is, 

whether  this  is  retrospective,  looking  back  to  the  recent  captivity 
in  Babylon;  or  prospective,  predicting  some  future  judgment  on 

the  covenant  people. The  latter  view  I  accept :  (1.)  Because  the 

other  visions  throughout  this  series  are  prophetic,  not  historic. 

(2.)  Because  the  late  captivity  in  Babylon  was  transient ;  this  is  at 
least  very  long. (3.)  Because  that  always  contemplated  a  resto- 
ration :  this  gives  no  hint  of  any  restoration,  but  the  contrary. 

(4.)  Because  in  v.  4  the  "  curse  that  goeth  forth  "  inflicts  judg- 
ments more  severe  and  exterminating  than  those  in  the  captivity  to 
Babylon.     This  vision  of  the  ephah  should  correspond  to  that  of  the 

roll. There  is  no  particular  difficulty  in  applying  this  entire 

chapter  to  the  judgments  that  fell  on  the  Jewish  nation  for  their 
rejection  of  their  Messiah,  according  to  their  own  imprecation— 
"  His  blood  be  on  us  and  on  our  children  !  "  The  first  instalment 
of  this  doom  came  from  the  Roman  arms ;  the  rest  in  the  almost 
universal  persecution,  dispersion,  and  reproach  under  which  they 
have  suffered  for  ages.  In  this  view  of  its  prophetic  significance, 
"Shinar  "is  used  by  way  of  historic  allusion — a  second  Shinar — 
another  captivity  like  that  of  Babylon,  only  more  terrible,  more 
protracted,  and  (so  far  as  appears  here)  not  alleviated  by  the  prom- 
ise of  restoration.  "  Shinar  "  was  the  country  in  which  Babylon 
lay  (Gen.  11 :  2,  9).  Both  these  visions  were  intended  as  solemn 
warnings  to  the  people,  at  that  time  and  onward,  against  violating 
the  law  of  God,  and  fitting  up  again  the  measure  of  their  national 
sins.  Such  warnings  were  in  their  nature  wholcsojne,  and  through 
the  divine  mercy  might  long  postpone  that  depth  of  depravity 
which  should  be  ultimately  reached,  and  then  be  so  terribly 
punished. 


31(5  '  ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  VI. 

CHAPTER    VI. 

This  chapter  is  in  two  quite  distinct  parts ;  the  first  a  vision, 
and  the  second  a  symbolic  transaction.  The  vision  (vs.  1-8)  pre- 
sents four  chariots,  and  shows  their  mission.  The  symbolic  trans- 
action (vs.  9-15)  is  the  making  of  crowns  and  setting  them  on  the 
head  of  Joshua  the  high  priest,  who  becomes  the  type  of  the% 
Messiah. 

1.  And  I  turned,  and  lifted  up  mine  eyes,  and  looked, 
and  behold,  there  came  four  chariots  out  from  between 
two  mountains ;  and  the  mountains  were  mountains  of 
brass. 

2.  In  the  first  chariot  were  red  horses ;  and  in  the 
second  chariot  black  horses ; 

3.  And  in  the  third  chariot  white  horses ;  and  in  the 
fourth  chariot  grizzled  and  bay  horses. 

4c.  Then  I  answered  and  said  unto  the  angel  that 
talked  with  me,  What  are  these,  my  lord  ? 

5.  And  the  angel  answered  and  said  unto  me,  These 
are  the  four  spirits  of  the  heavens,  which  go  forth  from 
standing  before  the  Lord  of  all  the  earth. 

6.  the  black  horses  which  are-  therein  go  forth  into 
the  north  country ;  and  the  white  go  forth  after  them ; 
and  the  grizzled  go  forth  toward  the  south  country. 

7.  And  the  bay  went  forth,  and  sought  to  go  that 
they  might  walk  to  and  fro  through  the  earth :  and  he 
said,  Get  ye  hence,  walk  to  and  fro  through  the  earth. 
So  they  walked  to  and  fro  through  the  earth. 

8.  Then  cried  he  upon  me,  and  spake  unto  me,  say- 
ing, Behold,  these  that  go  toward  the  north  country  have 
quieted  my  spirit  in  the  north  country. 

As  the  fifth  chapter  predicted  judgments  on  the  covenant  peo- 
ple for  their  sins,  this  last  vision  (G :  1-8)  predicts  corresponding 
judgments  on  the  enemies  of  God's  people. 

The  leading  objects  of  vision  hero  are  four  chariots  drawn  by 
diverse-colored  horses,  red,  black,  white,  and  gray.  They  "  come 
forth  from  between  two  mountains  of  brass,"  to  denote  the  amaz- 
ing strength  of  that  power  of  which  theyVere  the  representative 
agents,  and,  as  so*me  suppose,  with  a  tacit  reference  to  the  geograph- 
ical position  of  Jerusalem,  it  being  but  natural  that  these  chariots, 
symbolizing  God's  providential  agencies  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth,  should  seem  to  proceed  from  him  in  his  own  place  of  abode 


ZECHARIAn.— CHAP.  VI.  317 

at  Jerusalem.  Like  the  horses  seen  in  the  first  vision  (1 :  8-13), 
these  chariots  must  be  understood  to  represent,  in  pertinent  sym- 
bols, those  varied  agencies  of  God's  providential  rule  over  nations, 
by  which  he  puts  down  one  and  sets  up  another,  and  in  general 
administers  the  retributions  of  an  actual  government.  The  princi- 
pal shade  of  difference  between  the  horses  and  their  riders  of  the 
first  vision,  and  the  chariots  with  their  horses  in  this  last,  is  that 
the  horses  with  their  riders  serve  rather  as  scouts;  the  chariots  as 
executioners :  the  riders  on  horses  explore  the  state  of  the  nations ; 
the  chariots  put  in  execution  the  mandates  of  Jehovah;  or  (nearer 
to  the  expressive  language  of  the  text)  they  convey  the  very  animus 
of  Jehovah — his  spirit  of  indignation  and  retributive  justice— and 
cause  it  to  fall  on  those  guilty  nations.  As  was  remarked  in  the 
notes  on  chapter  1,  the  use  of  post-horses  in  those  vast  oriental 
kingdoms  (Esth.  3:13  and  8  :  10)'  suggested  their  use_  in  that  vis- 
ion, so  here  we  may  find  a  good  reason  for  this  symbolic  use  of  the 
chariot  in  the  prominent  place  held  by  chariots  of  war  in  the  ar- 
mies of  that  day. The  explanation  of  the  chariots  (v.  5),  "These 

are  the  four  spirits  or  winds  of  the  heavens,"  should  not  suggest 
to  us  the  literal  winds,  nor  any  literal  sense  of  the  wordspirit,  but,  as 
already  hinted,  those  invisible  agencies  of  the  divine  hand  in  provi- 
dence which  act  upon  the  nations  of  the  earth,  in  judgments  espe- 
cially, but  in  blessings  also,  as  the  case  may  be,  constituting  the 
working  forces  of  an  actual  administration  of  the  government  of 

God  over  nations  as  such  in  the  present  world. These  chariots 

"  go  forth  from  standing  before  the  Lord  of  all  the  earth,"  the 
usual  attitude  of  servants  awaiting  their  orders,  and  going  forth, 

when  bidden,  to  their  execution. It  will  be  noted  that  two  of 

these  chariots,  that  with  black  and  that  with  white  horses,  go  forth 
toward  the  north  country,  Babylon,  where  the  enemies  specially 
contemplated  here  were  located.  One  chariot  (v.  7)  seems  to  have 
had  a  very  general  commission  "  to  traverse  the  whole  earth,"  im- 
plying that  these  agencies  of  God's  reign  over  the  nations  are  not 
restricted  to  any  special  district  or  to  any  one  human  kingdom,  but 

embrace  them  all. In  v.  8  we  read — "  Behold,  these  that  go 

toward  the  north  country  have  quieted  my  spirit  in  the  north  coun- 
try," which  translation  can  be  understood  rightly  in  no  other  sense 
than  that  of  quieting  the  spirit  of  God  by  executing  his  righteous 
indignation  and  giving  scope  to  the  retributions  of  justice.  A  less 
ambiguous  rendering  would  be — "  have  brought  my  anger  down 
upon  the  north  country."  This  is  doubtless  the  sense  of  the  pas- 
sage. The  judgments  of  God  fell  on  Babylon  for  her  too  cruel  op- 
pression of  the  covenant  people.  Darius,  heading  the  Persian  ar- 
mies, was  the  first  executioner  of  this  wrath ;  the  time,  not  long 

after  this  prophecy  was  revealed. The  various  color  of  the  horses 

may  have  been  slightly  significant,  yet  some  interpreters  incline  to 
make  too  much  of  it.  It  is  manifestly  one  of  the  very  subordinate 
and  less  important  things  in  the  vision.  Plainly  the  revealing  an- 
gel, or  it  may  perhaps  be  said,  the  recording  mind,  made  little  ac- 


318  ZECHAKIAH.-- CHAP.  VI. 

count  of  this  feature,  else  we  should  find  more  accuracy  in  the 
references  to  the  different  chariots.  Thus  we  have  at  first  four,  des- 
ignated by  their  horses,  hut  the  last  span  has  a  twofold  description ; 
they  are  gray,  and  also  active,  fleet,  this  heing  the  only  sense  of  the 
Hebrew  word  rendered  "  bay  "  (vs.  3,  7).  When  they  are  named 
asain,  the  red-colored  disappear,  and  the  chariot  commissioned  to 
traverse  the  whole  earth  is  indicated  (very  appropriately)  as  that 
drawn  by  the  active,  fleet  span.  (The  span  that  had  the  wide  world 
for  then-  range  should  be  preeminently  fleet.)  Thus  the  red  are 
dropped  from  view,  and  what  was  the  fourth  in  the  first  descrip- 
tion now  becomes  two.  The  twofold  description  given  of  its  horses 
is  divided,  and  we  have  two  spans  and  two  chariots  out  of  the  one. 

This  criticism  may  be  thought  of  small  importance.      It  is 

chiefly  valuable  as  showing  that  the  color  of  the  horses  and  the  dis- 
tinction of  chariots  is  really  in  the  eye  of  the  revealing  Spirit  a 
small  and  not  important  matter.     The  vital  points  are  more  cared 

for,  and  are  put  with  more  accuracy. Some  critics  suppose  that 

the  two  mountains  are  the  kingdoms  of  Media  and  Persia.  This 
view  is  wide  of  their  real  significance.  The  material — "  brass"  or 
copper — denotes  the  strength,  not  of  any  heathen  nation  whose 
power  God  might  use  by  overruling  it,  but  of  God  himself,  in  ref- 
erence specially  to  the  deep,  immovable  foundations  of  his  throne. 
The  location  should  be  the  supposed  and  indeed  actual  dwelling- 
place  of  God,  i.  e.,  among  his  people,  in  his  temple  at  Jerusalem. 
As  the  chariots  represent  his  providential  agencies,  going  forth  on 
their  mission,  so  their  head-quarters  and  starting-point  should  be 

the  place  of  his  abode. That  they  come  forth  from  between 

two  mountains  is  due  simply  to  the  necessities  of  chariot-driving 
in  a  mountainous  country.  They  cannot  run  on  the  tops  or  sides 
of  rugged  mountains,  but  only  in  the  valley,  which  will  be  between 
two  mountains. 

9.  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me,  saying, 

10.  Take  of  them  of  the  captivity,  even  of  Heldai, 
of  Tobijah,  of  Jedaiah,  which  are  come  from  Babylon, 
and  come  thou  the  same  day,  and  go  into  the  house  of 
Josiah  the  son  of  Zephaniah ; 

11.  Then  take  silver  and  gold,  and  make  crowns, 
and  set  them  upon  the  head  of  Joshua  the  son  of  Jose- 
dech,  the  high  priest; 

12.  And  speak  unto  him,  saying,  Thus  speaketh  the 
Lord  of  hosts,  saying,  Behold  the  man  whose  name  is 
The  BRANCH ;  and  he  shall  grow  up  out  of  his  place, 
and  he  shall  build  the  temple  of  the  Lord  : 

13.  Even  he  shall  build  the  temple  of  the  Lord  ;  and 
he  shall  bear  the  glory,  and  shall  sit  and  rule  upon  his 


ZECHARIAE.— CHAP.  VI.  319 

throne :  and  lie  shall  be  a  priest  upon  his  throne :  and 
the  counsel  of  peace  shall  be  between  them  both. 

14.  And  the  crowns  shall  be  to  Helem,  and  to  Tobi- 
jah,  and  to  Jedaiah,  and  to  lien  the  son  of  Zephaniah, 
for  a  memorial  in  the  temple  of  the  Lord. 

15.  And  they  that  are  far  off  shall  come  and  build 
in  the  temple  of  the  Lord  ;  and  ye  shall  know  that  the 
Lord  of  hosts  hath  sent  me  unto  you.  And  this  shall 
come  to  pass,  if  ye  will  diligently  obey  the  voice  of  the 
Lord  your  God. 

The  series  of  visions  is  now  closed,  and  we  have  here  an  actual 
transaction  of  a  symbolical  character.  That  this  is  not  a  vision,  but 
is  a  real  transaction,  appears  on  the  face  of  the  record.  It  does 
not  open  with  "  I  saw  by  night "  (as  1:8);  nor  "  I  lifted  up  mine 
eyes  and  saw  "  (as  1 :  18) ;  nor  "  I  lifted  up  mine  eyes  again  "  (as 
2:1);  nor  "  he  showed  me"  (as  3:1);  nor  as  4 :  1  and  4:5;  nor 
as  6  :  1 — all  which  statements  testify  that  the  scenes  that  follow  re- 
spectively were  witnessed  in  prophetic  vision.  On  the  contrary,  this 
is  simply  "  The  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me,"  as  in  1 : 1,  and  7:1, 
•and  8  :  1,  &c,  where  verbal  communications  are  made. More- 
over, here  is  not  a  presentation  of  things  to  be  seen  by  the  prophet, 
"but  a  command  respecting  things  to  be  done.  And  finally,  these 
crowns,  after  being  made  and  solemnly  placed  on  the  head  of  the 
liigh  priest,  were  to  be  ".laid  up  for  a  memorial  in  the  temple  of 

the  Lord,"  all  indicating  an  actuality,  things  done  in  real  life. 

The  leading  points  are  the  preparation  of  crowns ;  the  solemn  cor- 
onation of  the  high  priest ;  the  accompanying  announcement  and 
explanations,  showing  that  the  purport  of  the  transaction  was  to 
make  Joshua  a  special  type  of  the  Messiah,  and  to  reveal  vastly 
important  truths  respecting  his  person  and  relations  to  men ;  and 
finally,  to  indicate  that  Gentile  nations  were  to  participate  in  the 

services  and  the  glories  of  his  coming  kingdom. This  seems  to 

have  been  a  double  crown,  the  word  for  crown  being  plural,  the 
verb  (v.  14)  being  in  the  singular ;  and  manifestly  but  one  head,  that 

of  Joshua,  is  crowned  in  the  transaction. To  obtain  the  silver 

and  the  gold  for  its  construction,  the  prophet  is  directed  to  go  to 
certain  men  here  named,  who  are  recently  from  Babylon,  captive 
Jews,  who  remained  behind  when  the  first  company  of  their  breth- 
ren left,  and  who  seem  to  have  come  to  Jerusalem  now  with  a  con- 
tribution from  their  brethren  still  behind,  to  aid  in  building  the 
temple.  Josiah,  son  of  Zephaniah,  may  have  been  the  treasurer 
of  this  fund ;  hence  the  direction  to  go  with  the  other  three  without 
delay  to  his  house  to  draw  the  money.  The  original  brings  in  the 
phrase,  "  who  are  come  from  Babylon,"  at  the  end  of  the  verse, 
showing  that  Josiah,  as  well  as  the  other  three,  was  in  the  delega- 
tion from  the  captive  Jews  there. Having  made  the  crowns,  ho 

sots  them  upon  the  head  of  Joshua  the  high  priest,  and  then  sol- 


320  ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  VI 

emnly  announces  from  the  Lord,  "  Behold  the  man — Branch  is  hig 
name;  he  shall  branch"  (shoot)  "up  from  underneath  himself" 
(from  his  own  humble  root),  "  and  he  shall  build  the  temple  of  the 

Lord." As  already  indicated,  the  sense  of  the  word  rendered 

"  Branch  "  is  shoot,  the  single  stock  that  springs  from  the  root  and 
becomes  the  one  trunk  of  the  tree.  In  the  original  the  verb  ren- 
dered "  shall  grow,"  is  the  same — shall  shoot  tip. The  specially 

emphatic  declaration  here  is  that  this  man — the  Branch — "  shall 
build  the  temple  of  the  Lord."  Hence  this  is  solemnly  repeated 
(v.  13)  :  "  Even  he"  (he  alone,  and  he  in  distinction  from  all  others) 
"  shall  build  the  temple  of  the  Lord."  This  cannot  refer  to  the 
temple  then  being  built  by  Zerubbabel,  for  of  this  the  Lord  had 
explicitly  declared  (4 :  9),  "  The  hands  of  Zerubbabel  have  laid  the 
foundations  of  this  house,  and  his  hands  shall  also  finish  it"  "We 
must  therefore  look  to  another  temple,  which  can  be  none  other 
thau  that  so  often  referred  to  in  the  New  Testament,  built  by  Jesus, 
the  Messiah,  of  which  it  is  said,  "  ye  "  (Christians)  "  are  the  temple 
of  the  living  God"  (2  Cor.  G  :  16).  "Tor  the  temple  of  God  is 
holy,  which  temple  ye  are"  (1  Cor.  3  :  16,  17).     "  Ye  also,  as  living 

stones,  are  built  up  a  spiritual  house,"  &c.  (1  Peter  2  :  5). The 

comprehensive  idea  embraces  the  spiritual  kingdom  of  the  Messiah, 
of  which  the  Jewish  temple  was  an  apposite  symbol.  In  that  an- 
cient-temple Jehovah  dwelt,  revealing  his  presence.  So  in  this, 
the  presence  of  the  Holy  Ghost  reclaims  men's  hearts  to  God,  and 

makes  them  pure  before  him.- Yet  further:  "  He  shall  bear  the 

glory,"  i.  e.,  preeminent  glory,  becoming  the  "head  of  all  things 
to  his  church,"  "  King  of  kings  "  "  moreover,  and  "  Lord  of  lords." 
"He  shall  sit  and  rule  upon  his  throne,"  truly  a  king,  not  in  Zion 
alone,  but  over  all  the  earth,  or  rather  all  the  earth  shall  ultimately 
become  his  Zion,  since  his  kingdom  shall  in  the  latter  days  embosom 
and  absorb  into  itself  all  other  kingdoms  and  all  other  love,  obe- 
dience, and  homage,  so  that  it  can  be  said  truly,  "  The  kingdoms  of 
this  world  have  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his 

Christ,  and  he  (alone)  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever." He  shall 

also  "  be  a  priest  upon  his  throne,"  uniting  these  two  functions  in 
his  own  person,  and  never  ceasing  to  mediate  for  his  people,  and  be 
their  great  atoning  sacrifice  because  of  his  exaltation  to  so  great 

power  and  glory  on  his  throne. The  phrase  "  the  counsel  of 

peace  shall  be  between  them  both,"  does  not  refer  to  some  second 
person  other  than  the  Messiah,  cooperating  with  him ;  nor  does  it 
mean  merely  that  Messiah  as  king  and  Messiah  as  priest  shall  be 
harmonious  and  not  conflicting,  but  rather  that  both  as  King  and 
as  Priest,  Messiah  shall  consult  for  and  shall  secure  the  peace,  the 
highest  spiritual  good  of  his  people.  The  full  energy  of  both  rela- 
tions shall  be  made  subservient  to  the  spiritual  life  and  consequent 

peace  and  blessedness  of  his  children. After  these  crowns  had 

served  their  temporary  purpose  in  this  typical  inauguration  of 
Joshua  the  high  priest,  they  were  to  be  laid  up  in  the  temple  of  the 
Lord,  as  a  memorial  for  those  four  delegates  who  came  up  from 


ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  VII.  321 

afar  with  those  offerings  of  silver  and  gold  for  the  temple.  They 
are  now  representative  men,  to  indicate  that  people  from  afar,  even 
the  Gentile  nations,  "  shall  come  and  build  in  the  temple  of  the 
Lord,"  i.  e.,  shall  come  into  the  Christian  Church,  bringing  into  it 
their  wealth,  their  personal  service,  and  the  full  homage  of  their 

willing  hearts. That  they  should  come  and  build  in  the  temple, 

is  Jewish  costume,  like  that  of  Isaiah  (ch.  60),  to  show  that  in  the  lat- 
ter day,  Gentile  nations  from  all  the  ends  of  the  earth  shall  swell 
the  hosts  of  the  people  of  God  and  contribute  their  wealth  and 
their  hearts  to  the  greatness  and  glory  of  his  kingdom  on  earth. 

As  usual  with  Zechariah,  the  final  seal  is  put  upon  this  glorious 

prophecy :  "  Ye  shall  know  by  your  own  precious  experience  that 
the  Lord  hath  sent  me  to  you  to  say  these  things."  They  cannot 
fail. The  names  of  those  four  representative  men  are  given  dif- 
ferently, yet  too  much  should  not  be  made  of  this.  Heldai,  the 
first  one  named  (v.  10),  becomes  in  v.  14  Helem,  a  word  of  nearly 
the  same  significance;  while  Josiah,  son  of  Zephaniah  (v.  16),  bo- 
comes  in  v.  14  Hen,  the  son  of  Zephaniah,  which  is  also  of  kindred 
meaning.  There  are  no  certain  data  upon  which  to  account  for 
these  changes  of  names.  These  two  men  may  have  had  each  two 
names,  or  there  may  be  a  play  upon  their  first  name  by  giving 
another  of  similar  significance ;  or  the  intent  of  it  may  have  been 
to  call  attention  to  the  meaning  of  their  names.  The  case  is 
scarcely  of  sufficient  importance  to  justify  or  call  for  much  specu- 
lation.  The  last  clause  has  the  appearance  of  being  broken  off 

abruptly,  leaving  the  corresponding  part  to  be  supplied.  "Audit 
shall  come  to  pass  if  ye  will  diligently  obey  the* voice  of  the  Lord 
your  God"  ....  (supply)  all  these  promised  blessings  shall  come 
to  you  most  abundantly.     You  shall  have  them  on  condition  of 

obeying  the  Lord  diligently,  but  on  no  other. So  all  the  great 

blessings  of  the  gospel  are,  as  to  each  of  us,  suspended  on  this  con- 
dition of  honest  diligence  and  faithful  obedience  to  the  Lord  our 
God.  Perhaps  it  was  with  the  intention  of  making  this  condition 
the  more  impressive,  that  the  sentence  breaks  off  thus  abruptly, 
leaving  the  reader  to  inquire  the  more  carefully  into  the  force  of 
this  great  condition,  and  the  wealth  of  blessings  suspended  upon  it. 


CHAPTEE    VII. 

Tins  chapter  and  the  next  were  both  occasioned  by  one  special 
circumstance.  For  seventy  years  the  people  had  been  observing 
certain  days  of  fasting,  in  remembrance  of  prominent  events  con- 
nected with  the  fall  of  their  beloved  city  and  temple.  JSTow,  they 
had  returned  from  their  captivity;  the  city  was  rebuilt;  the  work 
on  the  temple  was  far  advanced  toward  completion.  It  was  now 
the  fourth  year  of  Darius,  and  the  temple  was  finished  in  his  sixth 
year.  The  community  was  decidedly  prosperous ;  hence  the  ques- 
14* 


322  ZECHAKIAH.— CHAP.   VII. 

tion  arose— Shall  we  continue  to  observe  those  days  of 'fasting 
Would  it  not  be  more  appropriate  to  observe  days  of  praise  and 

thanksgiving? The  Lord  sends  his  answer  by  his  prophet  Zech- 

ariah.  It  is twofold. (1.)  It  rebukes  the  hypocrisy  and  selfish- 
ness manifested  by  some  of  the  people  in  those  very  fasts  which 
should  have  been  seasons  of  special  humiliation  and  honest  confes- 
sion of  sin  before  the  Lord ;  admonishes  them  that  God's  eye  is  on 
their  moral  conduct  as  well  as  on  their  hearts,  and  exhorts  them  to 
justice  and  righteousness,  especially  by  the  sad  case  of  their  fathers, 
whom  the  Lord  had  scourged  so  severely  by  a  long  and  terrible 
captivity.     This  part  of  the  reply  fills  out  the  seventh  chapter  (vs. 

4_14). (2.)  The  second  part  fills  the  eighth  chapter,  and  is  rich  in 

promised  blessings  to  the  obedieut,  closing  with  a  direct  answer  to 
their  inquiry. 

1.  And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  fourth  year  of  king 
Darius,  that  the  word  of  the  Loud  came  unto  Zechariah 
in  the  fourth  day  of  the  ninth  month,  even  in  Chisleu  ; 

2.  When  they  had  sent  unto  the  house  of  God,  She- 
rezer  and  Regem-melech,  and  their  men,  to  pray  before 
the  Lord, 

3.  And  to  speak  unto  the  priests  which  were  in  the 
house  of  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and  to  the  prophets,  saying, 
Should  I  weep  in  the  fifth  month,  separating  myself,  as 
I  have  done  these  so  many  years  ? 

The  date  is  given  precisely,  this  being  a  matter  of  historic  im- 
portance. From  the  arrival  of  the  first  caravan  of  returning  Jews 
in  the  first  year  of  Cyrus  (b.  c.  536)  to  the  second  year  of  Darius 
(about  b.  c.  520),  the  people  had  been  harassed  by  their  Samaritan 
enemies ;  the  work  on  the  temple  for  a  time  dragged  heavily,  and 
was  finally  quite  suspended.  At  length,  under  special  messages 
from  God  by  Haggai  and  Zechariah,  it  was  resumed  in  the  second 
year  of  Darius.  VTith  this  resumption  commenced  an  era  of  great 
prosperity.  Their  foreign  enemies  ceased  to  annoy  them;  the 
smiles  of  God  rested  on  all  their  labors.  After  two  years  of  such 
prosperity,  the  question  naturally  arose,  whether  they  should  con- 
tinue to  observe  certain  days  of  fasting,  as  they  had  done  then  some 
seventy  years.  The  most  prominent  of  these  days  are  specially  re- 
ferred to  here ;  that  in  the  fifth  month  (v.  3),  and  that  also  in  the 
seventh  month  (v.  5).  Chap.  8:19  relers  to  two  others,  viz.,  one  in 
the  fourth  month  and  another  in  the  tenth.  The  history  indicates 
the  special  reason  of  fasting  on  these  days.  In  the  fifth  month  the 
temple  was  burnt  (Jer.  52  :  12).  In  the  seventh,  Gedaliah  was  slain, 
and  the  small  remnant  that  remained  with  him  were  scattered  and 
destroyed  (Jer.  41 : 1  ff).  In  the  fourth  month  the  city  was  taken 
(Jer.  52  :  6,  7).  In  the  tenth  it  was  invested  by  the  armed  hosts  of 
Nebuchadnezzar  (Jer.  52 :  4). V.  2  should  be  translated—"  When 


ZECIIARIAH.— CHAP.   VII.  323 

Bethel "  (the  household  of  God,  in  the  sense  of  the  congregation  of 
the  Lord)  "  sent  Sherezer,"  &c.,  i.  e.,  the  people  in  the  capacity  of  a 
worshipping  congregation,  sent  this  commission  to  their  priests  and 

prophets  with  this  inquiry. V.  3.  "Separating  myself,"  i.  e., 

from  my  accustomed  secular  labors — making  it  a  holy  and  solemn 
day. 

4.  Then  came  the  word  of  the  Lord  of  hosts  unto  me, 
saying, 

5.  Speak  unto  all  the  people  of  the  land,  and  to  the 
priests,  saying,  When  ye  fasted  and  mourned  in  the  fifth 
and  seventh  month,  even  those  seventy  years,  did  ye  at 
all  fast  unto  me,  even  to  me  ? 

6.  And  when  ye  did  eat,  and  when  ye  did  drink,  did 
not  ye  eat  for  yourselves,  and  drink  for  yourselves  f 

This  rebuke  manifestly  applied  to  some  of  those  who  united  in 
this  inquiry.  The  Lord  asks — Did  your  fasting  have  any  regard  to 
me  ?  Did  you  think  of  your  sins  against  me  ?.  Did  you  humble  your- 
selves before  me  ?  So,  when  ye  ate  and  when  ye  drank,  was  it  not 
ye  that  ate,  and  ye  that  drank?  This  is  the  literal  rendering,  and 
implies  that  they  thought  of  nothing  but  their  own  sensual  gratifi- 
cation, ate  and  drank  merely  to  enjoy  themselves,  and  as  if  there 
were  no  God  to  thank,  no  great  Giver  to  recognize  as  the  fountain 
of  all  blessings. 

7.  Should  ye  not  hear  the  words  which  the  Lord  hath 
cried  by  the  former  prophets  when  Jerusalem  was  in- 
habited and  in  prosperity,  and  the  cities  thereof  round 
about  her,  when  men  inhabited  the  south  and  the 
plain  % 

The  original  omits  the  verb  before  "  words  "  in  the  beginning  of 
the  verse,  apparently  assuming  that  the  sense  would  be  clear  with- 
out it.  In  supplying  it,  the  choice  lies  between  our  English  text 
and  the  marginal  reading,  the  former  giving  the  sense  most  in  har- 
mony with  the  strain  of  the  passage. The  verse  suggests  the 

substance  of  the  next  special  message  (vs.  8-14),  the  admonitions 
sent  from  God  by  the  prophets  to  then*  fathers,  their  rejection  of 
them,  and  the  consequences. 

8.  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  Zechariah, 
saying, 

9.  Thus  speaketh  the  Lord  of  hosts,  saying,  Execute 
true  judgment,  and  shew  mercy  and  compassions  every 
man  to  his  brother : 

10.  And  oppress  not  the  widow,  nor  the  fatherless, 


324  ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  VIII. 

the  stranger,  nor  the  poor ;  and  let  none  of  you  imagine 
evil  against  his  brother  in  your  heart. 

11.  But  they  refused  to  hearken,  and  pulled  away 
the  shoulder,  and  stopped  their  ears,  that  they  should 
not  hear. 

12.  Tea,  they  made  their  hearts  as  an  adamant 
stone,  lest  they  should  hear  the  law,  and  the  words  which 
the  Lokd  of  hosts  hath  sent  in  his  Spirit  by  the  former 
prophets :  therefore  came  a  great  wrath  from  the  Lokd 
of  hosts. 

13.  Therefore  it  is  come  to  pass,  that  as  he  cried,  and 
they  would  not  hear ;  so  they  cried,  and  I  would  not 
hear,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts : 

14.  But  I  scattered  them  with  a  whirlwind  among 
all  the  nations  whom  they  knew  not.  Thus  the  land 
was  desolate  after  them,  that  no  man  passed  through  nor 
returned :  for  they  laid  the  pleasant  land  desolate. 

Here  the  Lord  gives. to  his  servant  Zechariah  a  summary  of  the 
message  he  sent  by  many  of  his  prophets  shortly  before  the  cap- 
tivity. Y.  9  should  therefore  read — "Thus  the  Lord  did  speak," 
i.  e.,  to  your  fathers,  by  Jeremiah  and  Zephaniah  in  the  days  of  Jo- 
siah ;    and  somewhat  earlier  by  Hosea,  Amos,  Isaiah,  and  Micah. 

In  v.  11,  "pulled  away  the  shoulder,"  is  in  Hebrew,  "They 

gave  a  refractory  shoulder,"  i.  e.,  they  made  their  shoulder  refrac- 
tory— with  allusion  to  the  bullock  who  refuses  to  be  broken  into 

patient  labor. V.  12  most  fully  recognizes  the  inspiration  of  the 

prophets.     The  Lord  sent  His  words  to  the  people  by  his  Spirit,  by 

the  hand,  i.  e.,  the  ministration  of  the  former  prophets. By  his 

Spirit,  rather  than  tl4n,n  is  the  sense  of  the  original,  the  preposition 

being  the  same  as  that  before  the  "hand  of  the  prophets." Y. 

13,  "  Hence  it  is  come  to  pass  " — referring  still  to  the  history  of  what 

occurred  shortly  before  the  captivity. V.  14  fully  confirms  this 

general  course  of  interpretation,  as  referring  to  the  ways  of  God 
toward  the  people,  and  of  the  people  toward  God,  in  the  age 
next  preceding  the  time  of  Zechariah.  That  history  was  exceed- 
ingly full  of  most  pertinent  and  valuable  instruction. 


CHAPTEE    VIII. 

As  already  remarked  in  the  introduction  to  chap.  7,  this  con- 
tinues and  concludes  the  subject  opened  in  that  chapter.  It  gives 
the  brighter  side — the  message  of  the  Lord  to  the  truly  humbled, 
penitent,  and  believing  portion  of  the  people.     Hence  it  abounds  in 

cheering  promises. 


ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  VIII.  325 

1.  Again  the  word  of  the  Loed  of  hosts  came  to  me, 
saying, 

2.  Thus  saith  the  Loed  of  hosts ;  I  was  jealous  for 
Zion  with  great  jealousy,  and  I  was  jealous  for  her  with 
great  fury. 

"Jealous  for  Zion."  The  same  sentiment  is  even  yet  more  ex- 
panded (chap.  1  :  14-1G).  This  revived  jealousy  for  Zion  implies 
that  the  Lord's  love  for  her  was  enkindled  afresh ;  his  pity,  too,  be- 
came active;  his  apprehensions  also  for  the  honor  of  his  name 
before  the  nations ;  and  not  least,  his  indignation  toward  the  people 
that  had  so  cruelly  oppressed  Zion.  All  these  feelings  conspired 
toward  his  purpose  to  return  in  mercy  to  Zion,  as  the  next  verse 
states. 

3.  Thus  saith  the  Loed  ;  I  am  returned  unto  Zion, 
and  will  dwell  in  the  midst  q£  Jerusalem :  and  Jerusa- 
lem shall  be  called,  a  city  of  truth ;  and  the  mountain  of 
the  Loed  of  hosts,  the  holy  mountain. 

These  are  the  blessings.  It  is  noticeable  that  moral  purity 
stands  specially  prominent.  "Jerusalem  shall  be  called"  (because 
she  shall  really  de)  "the  city  of  truth,"  distinguished  above  all 
other  cities  for  substantial  integrity  of  character ;  and  the  temple- 
mountain  where  the  Lord  dwells  shall  be  "the  holy  mountain  " — 
holy,  by  reason  of  the  regeneration  and  sanctification  of  those  who 

worship  the  Lord  there. Such  should  be  the  results  of  the  Lord's 

returning  to  Zion,  to  dwell  there  by  his  spiritual  presence.  These 
are  the  legitimate  criteria  of  his  real  presence  by  Ms  Spirit  any- 
where. 

4.  Thus  saith  the  Loed  of  hosts  ;  There  shall  yet  old 
men  and  old  women  dwell  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem, 
and  every  man  with  his  staff  in  his  hand  for  very  age. 

5.  And  the  streets  of  the  city  shall  be  full  of  boys 
and  girls  playing  in  the  streets  thereof. 

A  beautiful  scene  of  peace  and  prosperity,  indicated  by  the 
groups  of  the  aged,  still  living  as  witnesses  to  the  long-continued 
exemption  from  desolating  wars,  and  the  yet  more  numerous  throng 
of  little  boys  and  girls  playing  and  happy  in  the  streets.  Evermore, 
through  all  the  ages  before  Christ,  such  external  prosperity  is  ac- 
counted as  evidence  of  God's  favor  and  approval.  "  Length  of 
days  is  in  her  right  hand ;  in  her  left,  riches  and  honor."  The  ge- 
nius of  God's  providential  government  in  that  age  involved  a  high 
degree  of  present  retribution. 

6.  Thus  saith  the  Loed  of  hosts  ;  If  it  be  marvellous 
in  the  eyes  of  the  remnant  of  this  people  in  these  days, 


326  ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  VIII. 

should  it  also  be  marvellous  in  mine  eyes  ?  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts. 

Though  it  should  seem  marvellous  and  almost  incredible  in  your 
eyes,  that  I  should  bestow  so  great  blessings,  yet  must  it  be  marvel- 
lous in  mine?  Is  any  thing  too  hard  for  the  Lord  ?  Is  any  measure 
of  blessings  so  great  as  to  be  marvellous  in  view  of  the  great  depths 
of  divine  love  ? 

7.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  ;  Behold,  I  will  save 
my  people  from  the  east  country,  and  from  the  west 
country ; 

8.  And  I  will  bring  them,  and  they  shall  dwell  in 
the  midst  of  Jerusalem :  and  they  shall  be  my  people, 
and  I  will  be  their  .God,  in  truth  and  in  righteousness. 

This  is  a  promise  to  save  his  people  -wherever  they  were,  and 
to  gather  them  in  from  theip  dispersions — two  quarters  of  the 
heavens,  the  land  toward  the  sun-rising  and  the  land  toward  the 

sun-setting  being  named — a  part  for  the  whole. Its  fulfilment  in 

the  literal  sense  took  place  while  yet  that  economy  continued,  which 
required  the  residence  of  the  Jews  in  their  own  land. 

9.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  ;  Let  yom*  hands  be 
strong,  ye  that  hear  in  these  days  these  words  by  the 
mouth  of  the  prophets,  which  were  in  the  day  that  the 
foundation  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  of  hosts  was  laid, 
that  the  temple  might  be  built. 

10.  For  before  these  days  there  was  no  hire  for  man, 
nor  any  hire  for  beast ;  neither  was  there  a/tiy  peace  to 
him  that  went  out  or  came  in  because  of  the  affliction : 
for  I  set  all  men  every  one  against  his  neighbor. 

11.  But  now  I  will  not  he  unto  the  residue  of  this 
people  as  in  the  former  days,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts. 

12.  For  the  seed  shall  be  prosperous ;  the  vine  shall 
give  her  fruit,  and  the  ground  shall  give  her  increase, 
and  the  heavens  shall  give  their  dew ;  and  I  will  cause 
the  remnant  of  this  people  to  possess  all  these  things. 

These  words  exhort  the  people  to  courage,  fearlessness,  and 
vigor,  in  the  prosecution  of  the  temple-building,  and  in  whatever 
labor  the  Lord  might  impose.  While  the  temple  lay  neglected  all 
things  went  awry;  enemies  pressed  them  from  abroad  ;  dissension, 

stagnation,  and  starvation  distressed  them  at  home. When  the 

Lord  says,  "I  set  all  men  each  one  against  his  neighbor,"  he  refers 
to  what  he  let  men  do,  in  the  sense  of  not  preventing  it — as  a  judg- 
ment on  them  for  their  sins. 


ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  VIII.  327 

13.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  as  ye  were  a  curse 
anion f  the  heathen,  O  house  of  Juclah  and  house  of 
Israel ;  so  will  I  save  you,  and  ye  shall  be  a  blessing : 
fear  not,  but  let  your  hands  be  strong. 

The  expression,  "ye  were  a  curse  among  the  heathen,"  &c, 
might  in  itself  mean  either  that  they  drought  curses  upon  the 
heathen,  or  that  they  were  themselves  cursed  among  the  heathen. 

The  latter  I  take  to  he  the  sense  here. So  of  blessings  :  the  sense 

is,  ye  shall  he  blessed. 

14.  For  thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  ;  As  I  thought 
to  punish  you,  when  your  fathers  provoked  me  to  wrath, 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and  I  repented  not : 

15.  So  again  have  I  thought  in  these  clays  to  do  well 
unto  Jerusalem  and  to  the  house  of  Judah  :  fear  ye  not. 

The  antithesis  here  is  this  :  As  I  thought  to  punish  your  fathers 
for  their  &-reat  provocations,  and  did  not  swerve  from  my  thought, 
but  carried  it  into  execution  ;  so  have  I  now  thought  to  bless  Jeru- 
salem, and  I  shall  not  fail  to  do  it !    Fear  not ! 

16.  These  are  the  things  that  ye  shall  do  ;  Speak  ye 
every  man.  the  truth  to  his  neighbor  ;  execute  the  judg- 
ment of  truth  and  peace  in  your  gates  : 

17.  And  let  none  of  you  imagine  evil  in  your  hearts 
against  his  neighbor;  and  love  no  false  oath:  for  all 
these  are  things  that- 1  hate,  saith  the  Lord. 

The  usual  and  always  pertinent  exhortations  to  practise  right- 
eousness and  truth.  The  last  clause  of  v.  1G  enjoins  upon  them 
to  administer  law  in  the  courts  according  to  justice  and  truth.  This 
would  promote  real  peace  and  prosperity.  Such  decisions  are  de- 
cisions of  peace. 

18.  And  the  word  of  the  Lord  of  hosts  came  unto 
me,  saying, 

19.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts ;  The  fast  of  the 
fourth  month,  and  the  fast  of  the  fifth,  and  the  fast  of 
the  seventh,  and  the  fast  of  the  tenth,  shall  be  to  the 
house  of  Judah  joy  and  gladness,  and  cheerful  feasts ; 
therefore  love  the  truth  and  peace. 

Here  we  find  the  explicit  answer  to  the  question  sent  up  from 
the  people  by  the  hand  of  Sherezer  and  Eegem-melech.  Those 
fasts  shall  be  changed  to  seasons  of  joy  and  gladness,  and  to  cheer- 
ful feasts — only  the  Lord  still  enforces  that  which  is  evermore  es- 
sential to  their  abiding  prosperity— a  Love  the  truth  and  peace." 


323  ZECHAKIAH.— CHAP.  VIII. 

20.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts:  It  shall  jet  come 
to  pass,  that  there  shall  come  people,  and  the  inhabitants 
of  many  cities: 

21.  And  the  inhabitants  of  one  city  shall  go  to  an- 
other, saying,  Let  ns  go  speedily  to  pray  before  the  Lord, 
and  to  seek  the  Lord  of  hosts :  I  will  go  also. 

22.  Yea,  many  people  and  strong  nations  shall  come 
to  seek  the  Lord  of  hosts  in  Jerusalem,  and  to  pray  be- 
fore the  Lord. 

23.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts ;  In  those  days  it 
shall  come  to  pass,  that  ten  men  shall  take  hold,  out  of 
all  languages  of  the  nations,  even  shdl  take  hold  of  the 
skirt  of  him  that  is  a  Jew,  saying,  We  will  go  with  you : 
for  we  have  heard  that  God  is  with  you. 

The  renewed  vitality  of  the  religious  life  in  these  times  of  Zech- 
ariah,  suggested  the  yet  far  more  glorious  revival  and  consequent 
extension  of  pure  religion  in  the  latter  days.  The  transition  from 
the  gloom  and  grief  of  the  captivity  to  the  peace  and  joy  indicated 
thus  far  throughout  this  chapter,  becomes  suggestive  and  significant 
of  another  advance — perhaps  I  might  say  a  similar  transition  from 
the  narrow  limitations  of  the  kingdom  of  God  then,  to  that  won- 
drous expansion  when  "many  people  and  strong  nations  shall  come 
to  seek  the  Lord  of  hosts  in  Jerusalem  and  to  pray  before  the 

Lord." Such  seems  to  be  the  mental  law  of  association  under 

which  these  predictions  of  the  Messiah's  enlarged  and  glorious  king- 
dom are  brought  to  mind. 1  can  find  no  adequate  fulfilment  of 

these  promises  short  of  the  millennial  days.  Nothing  at  all  equiva- 
lent has  yet  transpired.     Let  us  look  a  moment  at  their  significance. 

In  v.  21,  "Let  us  go  speedily,'1  is  the  usual  intensive  repetition 

of  the  infinitive  with  the  finite  verb,  and  might  as  well  be  rendered 
"Let  us  go  with  all  our  heart" — earnestly.  This  would  imply 
going  speedily;  but  it  would  also  mean  much  more  than  that.  The 
last  clause  also  is  strong:  "I,  too,  will  surely  go;"  or  "Let  me  go 

too." "  Ten  men  "  is  a  definite  number  for  an  indefinite,  as  many 

as  could  well  get  hold  of  one  man's  skirt — and  obviously  means 
that  many  men  shall  follow  one  Jew  as  their  guide ;  as  many  as 
one  man  can  teach.  This  throng  of  pupils  represents  far  more  than 
a  single  nation.  Indeed,  each  of  the  ten  representative  men  stands 
for  one  nation,  since  they  are  each  of  different  language,  and  taken 
together  represent  "  all  languages  of  the  nations  " — indicating  tliat 
people  of  every  tongue  and  clime  shall*  come  to  Zion  for  the  law 

and  the  light  of  God. That  they  are  said  to  come  to  Jerusalem  is 

due  to  the  necessary  modes  of  Jewish  thought.  That  was  the  only 
way  in  which  the  Jews  before  Christ  could  conceive  of  real  con- 
versions— the  only  language  descriptive  of  conversion  which  they 
could  understand.     They  had  not  yet  reached  the  idea  that  God  can 


ZECHAKIAH.— CHAP.  IX.  329 

be  worshipped  acceptably  and  spiritually,  just  as  well  anywhere 
else  as  in  Jerusalem.  Hence  those  glorious  conversions  of  Gentile 
nations,  which  are  to  take  place  far  down  in  the  ages  of  the  gospel 
dispensation,  if  foretold  at  all  by  Jewish  prophets  and  for  Jewish 
readers,  must  be  presented  in  thoroughly  Jewish  language  and  in 
harmony  with  Jewish  conceptions.  So  we  ought  to  expect  to  find  it 
throughout  the  Old  Testament  prophets  ;  so  we  do  find  it.  On  this 
principle,  the  "Jew  "  is  any  one  with  whom  God  is.  Under  the  gospel 
systen*  "he  is  not  a  Jew  who  is  one  outicardly"  (Bom.  2  :  28,  29). 

This  passage,  therefore,  is  a  prediction  that  "the  inhabitants  of 

many  cities" — "yea,  many  people  and  strong  nations" — yea,  na- 
tions so  diverse  that  they  speak  all  the  languages  of  the  earth — 
shall  come  to  those  who  have  the  gospel  and  beg  to  be  led  to  the 
Lamb  of  God.  They  shall  come  with  great  earnestness  and  zeal, 
manifesting  the  utmost  readiness'  to  go  themselves,  and  exhorting 
others  likewise — the  people  of  one  city  pressing  the  people  of  an- 
other city  to  join  the  great  company  of  those  who  shall  go  to  pray 
before  the  Lord  and  to  seek  the  Lord  of  hosts. Such  is  the  im- 
port of  this  wonderful  prophecy.  We  can  scarcely  wish  it  were 
greater  and  better  in  the  breadth  and  richness  of  its  promises.  Who 
can  find  it  in  his  heart  to  wish  it  were  less  ? 


CHAPTER    IX. 

Vs.  1-8  sketch  the  sweep  of  the  conquering  hosts  of  Alexan- 
der the  Great  in  western  Asia,  and  along  the  eastern  coast  of  the 
Mediterranean,  and  refer  to  the  special  protection  afforded  by  the 
Lord  to  his  people  in  the  midst  of  that  scene  of  danger ;  then  the 
prophet  (vs.  9,  10)  passes  over  to  the  greater  protection  and  salva- 
tion wrought  out  by  King  Messiah  for  his  people  ;  and  then  (vs.  10- 
17)  on  the  same  analogy  predicts  the  protection  of  the  Jews  against 
the  Greco-Syrian  power  in  the  age  of  the  Maccabees. 

1.  The  burden  of  the  word  of  the  Loed  in  the  land 
of  Hadrach,  and  Damascus  shall  be  the  rest  thereof: 
when  the  eyes  of  man,  as  of  all  the  tribes  of  Israel,  shall 
be  toward  the  Loed. 

"  Burden,"  as  usual,  is  a  prediction  of  calamity,  here  destined  to 

fall,  not  on  God's  people,  but  on  .  their  enemies. "  Hadrach  " 

has  given  critics  ample  occasion  for  research,  ingenuity,  and  diver- 
sity of  opinion.  It  would  seem,  from  the  connection,  to  be  a  coun- 
try; yet  geographically  this  name  for  a  country  is  unknown.  The 
vague  reports  of  some  obscure  city  bearing  this  name,  are,  in  the 
first  place,  very  unreliable  at  the  best ;  and  then  the  position  which 
this  name  occupies  in  the  first  eight  verses  among  Damascus,  Tyre, 
Zidon,  &c,  and  at  the  head  of  them  all,  quite  forbids  that  it  should 
be  an  insignificant,  almost  unknown  city. The  best  solution  yet 


330  ZECHAMAH.— CHAP.  IX. 

suggested  is  that  of  Hengstenberg,  who  thinks  it  is  purposely  enig- 
matical, and  refers  to  Persia ;;  and  that  etymologically,  it  is  made 
up  from  two  Hebrew  verbs,*  the  former  meaning  to  be  strong,  and 
the  latter  to  be  wcaJc,  giving  the  significance—  Tlie  strong-weak;-- 
thus  intimating  that  she  is  at  one  time  strong;  at  another,  weak  ;— 

strong  under  a  Cyrus ;  weak  under  her  last  Darius. The  reason 

for  an  enigmatical  name  lay  in  the  delicate  relations  which  the  Jews 
of  his  time  sustained  to  the  Persian  throne.  The  Books  of  Ezra  and 
Nehemiah  make  the  delicacy  of  those  relations  very  palpable.  See 
especially  Ezra,  chap.  4-6.  It  could  not  be  wise  for  a  Hebrew 
prophet  to  utter  such  predictions  against  Persia  as  might  be  caught 
up  and  construed  into  proof  of  unfriendliness  toward  that  power. 

Enigmatical  names  are  not  entirely  without  precedent  among 

the  Hebrew  prophets.     Jeremiah  has  Sheshach  for  Babylon  (25  :  26 

and  51 :  41). It  is  remarkable  that  though  Hadrach  (Persia)  is 

named  as  the  first  to  feel  the  sweep  of  this  conquering  devastator, 
Alexander,  and  though  precisely  this  is  the  order  of  the  historic 
facts,  yet  the  prophet  passes  her  with  only  her  enigmatical  name. 
A  burden  of  the  word  of  the  Lord  is  upon  her  land;  that  is  all  he 
thinks  proper  to  say.  Damascus  is  the  place  upon  which  this  bur- 
den rests  down.     The  predicted  ruin  should  smite  and  crush  her. 

To  the  last  clause,  interpreters  have  given  two  different  con- 
structions:  one  thus — "Because  the  Lord's  eye  is  upon  men,  even 
upon  all  the  tribes  of  Israel ;  "  the  other  thus :  "  Because  the  eyes 
of  men,  even  of  all  the  tribes  of  Israel,  are  toward  and  unto  the 
Lord."  The  latter  is  much  better  sustained  by  the  grammatical 
relations  of  the  words,-  and  has  also  this  in  its  favor,  that  it  practi- 
cally involves  the  former.  "When  the  eyes  of  men,  even  of  all  God's 
people,  are  toward  him  for  help,  then  his  eye  is  surely  upon  them 
in  love,  care,  and  succor.  It  was  in  answer  to  the  humble  uplifted 
eye  and  prayer  of  God's  people  that  this  conquering  sweep  of  Alex- 
ander crushed  down  so  many  of  those  ancient  powers  hostile  to 
the  covenant  people,  but  spared  them. 

2.  And  Hamatli  also  shall  border  thereby;  Tyrus 
and  Zidon,  though  it  be  very  wise. 

Hamath,  a  country  lying  north  of  Palestine,  bordered  on  Damas- 
cus,, and  therefore  fell  within  the  range  of  this  great  conqueror,  and 
came  down  beneath  the  force  of  his  arms.  So  did  Tyre,  with  Zidon, 
because  she  had  taken  great  pride  in  her  wisdom,  and  had  so  utter- 
ly renounced  all  reliance  on  the  true  God. In  this  passage  Tyre 

leads  the  thought,  as  also  in  the  historic  facts  she  had  quite  eclipsed 
Zidon.  Hence,  the  verb  rendered  "be  very  wise,"  is  in  the  singu- 
lar, and  refers  primarily  to  Tyre.  The  word  rendered  "  though  " 
should  be  read  "because,"  this  being  its  usual  and  best  established 
«  meaning.  The  full  thought  is  brought  out  by  Ezekiel  in  28  :  2,  3, 
6,  17:  "Say  to  the  prince  of  Tyrus,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God,  Be- 


"nn 


W- 


ZECHAKIAH.— CHAP.  IX.  331 

cause  thine  heart  is  lifted  up  and  thou  hast  said — I  am  God ;  I  sit  in 
the  seat  of  God,  in  the  midst  of  the  seas ;  yet  thou  art  a  man  and 
not  God,  though  thou  set  thy  heart  as  the  heart  of  God  ;  therefore, 
because  thou  hast  set  thy  heart  as  the  heart  of  God,  behold  therefore 
I  will  bring  strangers  upon  thee,  the  terrible  of  the  nations,  &c,  &c. 

3.  And  Tyrus  did  build  herself  a  strong  hold,  and 
heaped  up  silver  as  the  dust,  and  fine  gold  as  the  mire 
of  the  streets. 

4.  Behold,  the  Lord  will  cast  her  out,  and  he  will 
smite  her  power  in  the  sea ;  and  she  shall  be  devoured 
with  fire. 

Further  and  special  notice  is  taken  of  Tyre.  After  having  been 
once  fearfully  desolated  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  she  had  fortified  her- 
self on  an  island  with  immense  strength,  and,  by  means  of  her  ex- 
tensive commerce,  had  amassed  great  wealth.  But  the  Lord  would 
dis2)088css  her  of  all  this  wealth.  So  the  original  signifies,  and  not 
merely  "  cast  her  out."  He  would  also  smite  her  bulwarks,  built 
up  and  standing  in  the  sea,  and  she  should  be  at  length  devoured 

utterly  by  fire. After  a  siege  of  seven  months,  Alexander  took 

the  city,  b.  c.  832,  .and  every  feature  of  this  prophecy  was  fulfilled. 

5.  Ashkelon  shall  see  it,  and  fear ;  Gaza  also  shall 
see  it,  and  be  very  sorrowful,  and  Ekron  ;  for  her  expec- 
tation shall  be  ashamed ;  and  the  king  shall  perish  from 
Gaza,  and  Ashkelon  shall  not  be  inhabited. 

From  Phoenicia  the  conqueror  swept  on  to  Philistia.  The 
prophet's  course  of  thought  is  the  same.  The  fall  of  Tyre  sent  a 
panic  through  those  cities  of  far  inferior  strength.  How  could  they 
stand  before  a  power  with  which  Tyre,  in  all  her  glory  and  prowess, 

could  not  cope?     See  the  same  thoughts  in  Isa.  23. Tyre  held 

Alexander's  army  at  bay  seven  months ;    the    cities  of  Philistia 

scarcely  retarded  the  conquering  march  of  his  army  at  all. The 

verse  may  be  read  thus :  "Ashkelon  shall  see  and  be  afraid  ;  Gaza, 
too,  and  she  shall  be  in  great  anguish ;  and  Ekron,  because  she  shall 
be  ashamed  of  her  trust  (i.  e.,  in  Tyre) ;  kings  perish  from  Gaza,  and 
Ashkelon  shall  no  longer  fill  her  throne" — literally,  "shall  not 
sit  on  a  throne."  Both  shall  cease  to  be  nationalities  ruled  by 
kings. 

6.  And  a  bastard  shall  dwell  in  Ashdod,  and  I  will 
cut  off  the  pride  of  the  Philistines. 

7.  And  I  will  take  away  his  blood  out  of  his  mouth, 
and  his  abominations  from  between  his  teeth ;  but  he 
that  remaineth,  even  he  shall  be  for  our  God,  and  he 
shall  be  as  a  governor  in  Judah,  and  Ekron  as  a  Jebu- 
site. 


332  ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  IX. 

The  first  clause  I  prefer  to  read—"  A  foreigner  shall  rule  in 
Ashdod."  The  sense,  however,  may  he  only  that  foreigners  shall 
dwell  there.  The  verbs  will  bear  either  interpretation.  Probably 
the  meaning  is,  that  the  civil  power  has  passed  forever  from  the 
hands  of  the  original  Philistines  to  foreigners.  Of  course,  the  popu- 
lation would  be  in  good  part  changed  as  well. The  pride  of 

Philistia  would  be  effectually  humbled.  And  furthermore,  the 
Lord  would  thoroughly  cure  them  of  then*  idolatry.  The  prophet, 
in  representing  this  fact,  thinks  of  them  as  eating  things  offered  to 
idols,  or  as  feasting  in  honor  of  their  idols,  and  then  the  Lord 
plucks  out  the  flesh  from  between  their  teeth  and  cleanses  out  the 
blood  from  their  mouth.  Then  the  remnant  are  converted— u  shall 
be  for  our  God" — are  honored  as  a  captain  of  a  thousand  in  Judah ; 
and  they  of  Ekron  shall  come  to  be  as  near  to  God  as  the  Jebusites 
— the  primitive  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem — after  that  city  became  the 
holy  and  the  chosen  one  of  God.  (See  Josh.  15  :  63,  and  Judg.  19  : 
10,  11,  and  2  Sam.  24  :  16.) This  prophecy  had  its  special  fulfil- 
ment when  the  gospel  was  preached  with  great  success  by  the 
apostles  in  those  cities.  It  has  its  general  fulfilment  under  the 
broad  doctrine  that  all  the  great  revolutions  which  the  Lord  brings 
about  by  war  shall  culminate  at  last  in  the  wider  range  and  sweep 
of  his  converting  grace.  Hence  so  many  prophecies  terminate  like 
this.     (See  Isa.  19  :  18-25  and  23  :  15-18,  and  Jer.  12 :  15,  16.) 

8.  And  I  will  encamp  about  mine  house  because  of 
the  army,  because  of  him  that  passeth  by,  and  because 
of  him  that  returneth:  and  no  oppressor  shall  pass 
through  them  any  more  :  for  now  have  I  seen  with  mine 
eyes. 

The  strain  of  the  chapter  thus  far  is  that  the  Lord  will  let  the 
great  conqueror,  Alexander,  overwhelm  the  nations  that  had  so  often 
oppressed  Israel.  Here,  on  the  other  hand,  he  protects  his  OAvn 
chosen  people:  "I  will  encamp  about  them  and  myself  be  a  wall  of 
fire  around  them  for  their  sure  defence."  The  special  reason  now 
thought  of  is  the  danger  from  the  army  of  Alexander,  "  going  and 
returning,"  moving  to  and  fro,  to  Egypt  and  back,  through  or  very 
near  Judea.  "  No  oppressor,"  in  the  precise  sense  of  exactor  of 
service  or  tribute,  "  shall  pass  over  them  any  more,"  because  hence- 
forth the  eye  of  God's  love  and  care  is  upon  them,  in  the  same 
sense,  a  watchful  eye,  as  in  Zech.  *3  :  9  and  4 :  10. The  fulfil- 
ment of  this  promise  began  with  the  nearer  future,  and  was  specially 
developed  in  the  time  of  Alexander,  when  it  was  indeed  striking 
and  almost  miraculous.  If  we  may  credit  Josephus,  Alexander  sent 
to  the  Jews  his  usual  demand  for  tribute  as  a  token  of  submission, 
and  was  answered  that  they  were  in  allegiance  to  the  Persian  throne. 
Offended  by  this  reply,  he  soon  after  came  in  person  ;  met  Jaddua, 
the  high  priest,  in  his  robes  of  office,  attended  by  other  priests ;  was 
solemnly  impressed  by  their  appearance ;  treated  them  with  extra- 


ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  IX.  333 

ordinary  deference,  and  ever  after  accounted  the  Jews  his  special 
friends.  In  explanation  of  this  extraordinary  conduct,  he  referred 
to  a  dream  in  which  a  personage  attired  like  this  high  priest,  met 
him  while  yet  at  home  and  pondering  the  question  of  invading 
Persia,  encouraged  him  to  go  forward,  assuring  him  of  -victory  and 
success.  Consequently,  he  recognized  this  high  priest  as  the  minis- 
ter of  the  invisible  gods,  and  all  the  more  so  when  the  Jews  showed 

him  the  prophecies  of  Daniel  respecting  himself. Of  the  general 

fact  of  Alexander's  special  favor  to  the  Jews,  there  can  he  no  doubt. 
This  favor  fulfilled  the  prophecy  before  us  (v.  8).  God's  hand  was 
in  the  agencies  that  secured  it.  "Whether  those  agencies  are  given 
with  general  accuracy  by  Josephus,  has  been  questioned ;  but  for 
aught  that  appears,  with  more  reason  for  affirming  than  for  denying. 
In  its  general  significance,  this  promise  is  good  for  the  true  church 
of  God  in  every  age  of  time. 

9.  Rejoice  greatly,  O  daughter  of  Zion ;  shout,  O 
daughter  of  Jerusalem  :  behold,  thy  King  cometh  unto 
thee :  he  is  just,  and  having  salvation ;  lowly,  and  riding 
upon  an  ass,  and  upon  a  colt  the  foal  of  an  ass. 

This  striking  case  of  protection  against  one  of  the  world's 
greatest  and  most  formidable  conquerors — protection  which  spe- 
cially shielded  Jerusalem  when  all  the  adjacent  cities  and  kingdoms 
were  overrun  and  fearfully  desolated — suggested  the  greater  and 
more  glorious  protection  achieved  for  the  people  of  God  through 
their  incarnate  Messiah,  at  once  their  great  High  Priest  and  their 
supreme  King.  Over  this  Deliverer,  let  Zion  rejoice  exceedingly! 
This  summons  to  exultant  joy  indicates  that  Messianic  blessings  are 
before  the  prophet's  eye. His  character  as  King  is  specially  prom- 
inent here  because  suggested  by  the  protection  he  gives  his  people 
against  their  enemies. 

"Behold,"  see!  "Thy  Xing  shall  come  to  thee,"  for  thy  help 
and  refuge.  "  He  is  just,"  the  first  quality  of  a  good  king ;  and 
" is  saved,"  i.e.,  protected  of  God.  This  word,  rendered  "having 
salvation,"*  is  the  passive  participle  of  the  common  verb,  to  save, 
from  which  our  word  Jesus  is  derived.  It  must,  therefore,  legiti- 
mately be  taken  in  the  sense — protected,  carried  safely  through  all 
danger — in  this  case,  with  reference  to  the  sustaining  hand  of  the 
Father,  upholding  his  beloved  Son  through  all  the  temptations  and 
conflicts  incident  to  his  incarnation,  sufferings,  and  death. More- 
over, he  is  an  afflicted  one,  sorely  bruised  and  suffering,  for  this  is 

the  usual  sense  of  the  word  rendered  "lowly." The  last  clause 

of  the  verse  demands  special  attention  :— :"  Riding  upon  an  ass,  and 

upon  a  colt,  the  foal  of  an  ass." The  primary  sense  of  these 

words  is  plain  enough.  It  is  also  clear  that  the  first  and  proper 
meaning  of  the  words  is  precisely  what  they  seem  to  say,  viz.,  that 


334  ZECHARIAEL— CHAP.  IX. 

lie  should  ride  upon  an  ass,  and  even  upon  one  yet  young.  The.  fact 
that  the  Lord  Jesus  fulfilled  this  prediction  to  the  very  letter ;  that 
he  seemed  to  take  special  pains  to  fulfil  it ;  and  more  than  all,  that 
this  riding  was  not  for  the  common  purpose  of  a  more  comfortable 
conveyance  from  place  to  place,  but  was  in  manner  and  form  the 
solemn  and  joyous  procession  of  his  inauguration  and  coronation 
as  King  in  his  own  Jerusalem ; — coupled  also  with  thje  fact  that 
each  one  of  the  four  evangelists  has  given  with  more  or  less  ful- 
ness his  own  account  of  the  transaction  * — all  combine  to  show 
that  it  must  have  had  some  ulterior  and  extraordinary  significance. 
It  cannot  by  any  means  be  supposed  that  the  transaction  has  no 
speciality  of  meaning.     What,  then,  is  this  special  meaning — the 

significance  of  both  the  prophecy  and  the  fulfilling  act? Very 

much  has  been  said  to  show  that  the  ass  is  everywhere  despised, 
and  that  riding  on  an  ass  indicates  whatever  is  low  and  scarcely 
above  contempt.  That  the  Lord  Jesus  rode  on  an  ass  has  been  sup- 
posed to  denote  the  position  he  held  among  the  men  of  his  genera- 
tion, as  one  "  despised  and  rejected."  This  idea  has  been  fostered 
by  the  fact  that  in  some  Christian  countries  Jews  have  been  for- 
bidden to  ride  on  horses,  or  on  any  other  animal  but  the  ass, 
for  the  purpose  of  branding  them  with  national  odium.  It  is  well 
understood  among  critics  that  Jewish  commentators  since  the 
Christian  era  have  been  sorely  perplexed  with  this  prediction  of 
their  Messiah  in  whom  they  have  expected  a  conquering  hero,  and 
therefore  could  find  no  place  in  their  preconceived  notions  of  his 
character  for  such  a.  feature  and  fact  as  this,  especially  inasmuch 
as  modern  ideas  have  led  them  to  interpret  the  fact  as  a  thing  of 
dishonor. — --To  relieve  their  King  Messiah  from  this  odium,  they 
have  taxed  their  ingenuity  upon  tradition  and  fable,  e.  g.,  asserting 
that  this  ass  was  the  identical  one  created  within  the  six  days  of 
Gen.  1,  the  original  ass  (!),  and  the  same  on  which  Abraham  rode 
to  Mount  Moriah  to  offer  his  Isaac  there,  and  which  Moses  rode 
when  he  came  from  Midian  into  Egypt  as  their  deliverer — thus 

asserting  for  him  at  least  the  honors  of  a  renowned  antiquity  ! 

But  these  Jewish  commentators,  and  some  not  Jewish,  have 
made  themselves  gratuitous  labor  in  explaining  away  the  supposed 
disgrace  of  riding  on  an  ass.  It  were  better  first  to  consider  that 
the  notions  of  modern  Europe  and  America  concerning  the  ass  are 
no  rule  for  the  people  of  Western  Asia ;  and  further,  that  the  no- 
tions of  Arab  tribes  and  Mohammedans  who  glory  in  the  horse  are 
not  to  be  the  standard  by  which  to  determine  Hebrew  .ideas.  Mani- 
festly the  sole  question  here  is,  not  what  Western  nations  think  of 
the  ass,  nor  what  Arabs  think  of  him,  nor  indeed  what  is  thought 
of  him  by  any  people  in  any  age  or  country  who  are  accustomed  to 
use  his  rival,  the  horse ;  but  what  were  the  current  usages  and 
hence  the  current  ideas  of  the  Jews,  the  people  among  whom  Zech- 

*  The  reader  will  find  the  history  of  the  fulfilment  in  Matt.  21 : 1-16, 
Mark  11 : 1-11,  Luke  19  :  29-±0,  and  John  12 :  12-18. 


ZECHARiAn.— chap.  ix.  335 

ariah  lived  and  wrote  ?  That  this  is  the  very  point  to  he  ascertained 
seems  too  plain  to  need  proof,  and  yet  it  has  been  strangely  over- 
looked.  It  cannot  be  deemed  necessary  to  prove  that  Jewish 

ideas  were  substantially  the  same  from  Abraham  to  the  Christian 
era — certainly  among  all  who,  like  Zechariah,  held  in  high  esteem 

the  patriarchs  of  the  nation  and  their  ancient  Scriptures. Let  it 

then  be  considered  that  during  the  entire  life  of  the  Jewish  nation, 
tlie  horse  had  never  any  footing  in  Palestine,  and  therefore  had  no 
opportunity  to  disparage  his  lowlier  rival.  It  was  the  divine  policy 
to  keep  him  out,  as  being  uncongenial  to  the  Hebrew  state,  too 
aristocratic,  and  withal  dangerous  as  a  temptation  into  the  ways  of 
the  idolatrous  and  corrupt  nations  in  their  vicinity;  and  more  than 
all,  too  much  associated  tcithwar.  These  considerations  all  conspired 
to  retain  the  ass  in  service  and  to  secure  for  him  a  fairly  respectable 

standing. But  let  us  look  at  the  historic  facts.     Abraham,  the 

honored  father  of  the  nation,  rode  an  ass.  The  sons  of  Jacob, 
heads  of  the  tribes  of  Israel,  rode  every  man  his  ass.  Balaam,  a 
great  man  in  his  country,  rode  on  an  ass.  The  daughter  of  Caleb, 
and  Abigail  too,  among  the  worthy  women  of  Jewish  history,  rode 
each  on  her  ass.  All  the  sons  of  David  rode  on  mules — an  animal 
of  the  same  general  character ;  Absalom  also,  when  at  the  head 
of  his  army.  In  the  transfer  of  the  kingdom  from  L>avid  to  Solo- 
mon, great  account  is  made  of  his  riding  on  David's  mule  in  the 
royal  procession  on  coronation  day. It  is  therefore  simply  im- 
possible that  any  odium  could  have  been  attached  to  riding  on  an 
ass  at  the  time  Zechariah  wrote,  or  at  the  time  when  Christ  ful- 
filled his  prediction. But  there  is  one  idea,  already  hinted  at 

though  not  fully  developed,  which  deserves  a  far  more  prominent 
position  than  it  has  had.  The  ass  was  not  adapted  to  war ;  the  horse 
was.  For  the  most  part  the  ass  appears  in  Jewish  history  either 
used  by  men  in  peaceful  life,  or  by  women  who  should  never  be  in 
any  other.  On  the  contrary,  the  horse  of  scripture  history  is  a 
war-horse,  with  either  his  dragoon  or  his  chariot.  The  Egyptians 
on  one  side ;  the  Assyrians,  Chaldeans,  and  Persians  on  the  other ; 
made  great  account  of  horses  for  war.  Hence,  when  the  horse  in 
Jewish  history  sets   foot    on  Palestine,  he  is  there  for  war,  for 

aggression. Xor  let  us  fail  to  notice  in  our  context  that  while 

King  Messiah  is  to  ride  on  an  ass,  the  Lord  says  :  "I  will  cut  off 
the  chariot  from  Ephraim,  and  the  horse  from  Jerusalem;  "  and  he 
shall  speak  peace  to  the  heathen."  Jerusalem  especially,  the  holy 
city  where  Jehovah  dwelt,  must  have  no  horses.     Their  very  names 

and  their  presence  -are  too  much  associated  with  war. Zeeh. 

12  : 4  shows  how  the  horse  is  commonly  thought  of  as  related  to 
the  Hebrew  state.  In  the  millennial  age,  horses  for  once  (for  the 
first  time  ?)  shall  be  really  consecrated  to  God  (14 :  20),  a  most  re- 
markable fact,  and  indicating  a  stupendous  change!  The  ass  then 
is  here  an  emblem  of  peace — of  peaceful  pursuits,  of  a  peaceful 
king,  and  of  his  peaceful  reign,  showing  that  Messiah's  kingdom 
should  not  be  of  this  world,  and  should  not  make  its  conquests 


336  ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  IX. 

with  carnal  weapons.  This  significant  act,  riding  on  an  ass,  is  a 
symbol  of  Christ's  peaceful  reign,  inaugurating  him  for  the  sort  of 
work  which  the  next  verse  describes. 

10.  And  I  will  cut  off  the  chariot  from  Epliraim, 
and  the  horse  from  Jerusalem,  and  the  battle-bow  shall 
be  cut  off :  and  he  shall  speak  peace  unto  the  heathen : 
and  his  dominion  shall  he  from  sea  even  to  sea,  and  from 
the  river  even  to  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

This  verse  is  closely  connected  with  verse  9 — a  part  of  the  same 
grand  prophecy  of  the  Messiah  and  of  his  reign  on  earth— set  here 
in  a  fine  antithesis  with  the  conquering,  world-wide  kingdom  of 

Alexander. The  chariot  and  the  horse  must  he  discarded  and 

abolished  as  tcar-institutio?is,  and  therefore  wholly  out  of  place  un- 
der this  peaceful  reign.  They  can  bear  no  part  in  the  great  con- 
quests which  Zion's  King  is  to  make.  He  has  no  fighting  to  do 
with  carnal  weapons.  On  the  contrary,  he  "  spealcs  "  peace  to  the 
nations.     The  gospel  of  his  word  carries  with  it  peace  and  love  to 

the  very  hearts  of  men. -The  reader  will  notice  how  fully  this 

view  of  Messiah's  reign  harmonizes  with  that  given  by  Micah  4 :  1- 
4;  Isa.  11  and  Ps.  72,  &c.,  &c. Though  the  kingdom  of  Mes- 
siah relies  on  peaceful  agencies  alone  for  its  dhTusion,  yet  it  shall  be 
extended  far  away  to  the  ends  of  the  world.  "  His  dominion  shall 
be  from  sea  to  sea  " — from  land's  end  in  one  direction  to  land's  end 
in  another — "  from  the  great  river"  (Euphrates)  "  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth."  The  prophet  is  not  aiming  to  fix  certain  geographical 
boundaries  to  this  kingdom,  as  if  implying  that  it  lies  within  these 
and  in  no  case  beyond  them,  but  rather  means  that  it  is  coexten- 
sive with  the  known  world,  sweeping  away  to  the  very  ends  of  the 

earth. That  this  passage  (vs.  9, 10)  is  a  prophecy  of  Jesus  Christ, 

admits  of  no  rational  doubt.  (1.)  The  course  of  thought  which 
suggests  and  introduces  it,  the  transition  from  the  protection  af- 
forded against  Alexander  to  the  greater  and  better  protection  af- 
forded by  Zion's  King  against  Satan,  the  world's  worst  conqueror 
and  tyrant,  goes  far  to  prove  it  Messianic. (2.)  The  call  for  ex- 
traordinary joy  in  this  glorious  King  belongs  to  the  prophecies  of 

the  Messiah,  and  to  nothing  of  less  magnitude  and  value. (3.) 

The  points  made  can  apply  to  none  but  the  Messiah. (4.)  They 

all  apply  to  him  easily,  accurately,  and  fully. (5.)  The  one  most 

extraordinary  point — his  riding  on  an  ass — was  not  only  fulfilled  in 
him  but  ~by  him,  with  more  appearance  of  special  aim  to  fulfil  this 
prophecy  than  is  apparent  elsewhere  in  regard  to  any  other.  Yet, 
in  view  of  the  exposition  above  given  of  the  significance  of  this  act, 
we  must  suppose  that  he  did  it  lecause  of  its  significance  rather 
than  merely  for  the  sake  of  fulfilling  this  prophecy.     He  did  fulfil 

it,  however,  none  the  less* (6.)  The  testimony  of  the  disciples  in 

their  comments  on  the  historic  fact  is  in  point.  Matthew  (21 : 4) 
remarks :  "  All  this  was  done  that  it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was 


ZECHARIAH.— CHAr.  IX.  337 

spoken  by  the  prophet,"  and  then  cites  this-  passage ;  while  John 
(12  :  16)  remarks  that  his  "  disciples  did  not  understand  these  things 
at  the  first,  hut  when  Jesus  was  glorified,  then  they  remembered 
that  these  things  were  written  of  him,  and  that  they  had  done 
these  things  unto  him."  When  the  Spirit  had  fully  come  to  teach 
them  all  things,  and  to  bring  all  things  Christ  had  said  and  done 
to  their  remembrance,  then  the  significance  of  this  transaction  be- 
came wonderfully  clear  to  their  minds. All  these  points  of  evi- 
dence combined  make  the  proof  signally  complete — indeed,  over- 
whelming. 

11.  As  for  thee  also,  by  tlie  blood  of  thy  covenant  I 
have  sent  forth  thy  prisoners  out  of  the  pit  wherein  is 
no  water. 

12.  Turn  you  to  the  strong  hold,  ye  prisoners  of 
hope  :  even  to-day  do  I  declare  that  I  will  render  double 
unto  thee ; 

13.  When  I  have  bent  Judah  for  me,  filled  the-  bow 
with  Ephraim,  and  raised  up  thy  sons,  O  Zion,  against 
thy  sons,  O  Greece,  and  made  thee  as  the  sword  of  a 
mighty  man. 

The  ninth  and  tenth  verses  may  be  regarded  as  a  digression 
from  the  regular  course  of  thought,  and  embraced  in  a  parenthesis. 
In  v.  11  the  prophet  returns  to  speak  of  events  that  follow  shortly 
after  those  predicted  (vs.  1-8).  The  conflict  (v.  13)  between  the 
sons  of  Zion  and  the  sons  of  Greece  finds  its  fulfilment  in  the  fu- 
rious wars  waged  during  twenty-four  years  between  the  Jews  and 
the  Syrian  Greeks,  commencing  in  the  reign  of  Antiochus  Epiph- 
ancs.  His  people  are  here  called  Greeks  because  his  kingdom 
was  one  of  the  four  into  which  the  great  Grecian  empire  of  Alex- 
ander was  divided,  and  also  because  their  language  and  customs 

were  Grecian. "  As  for  thee  also  (O  daughter  of  Zion,  as  in  v.  9), 

because  thou  art  in  a  covenant  with  thy  God  wdiich  is  sealed  with 
blood,  I  will  send  forth  thy  prisoners  out  of  the  pit  in  which  is  no 
water."  The  covenant  of  the  Lord  with  the  Jewish  nation  was 
sealed  with  sprinkled  blood.  See  Ex.  24  :  8. — "  And  Moses  took 
the  blood  and  sprinkled  it  on  the  people,  and  said :  Behold  the 
blood  of  the  covenant  which  the  Lord  had  made  with  you  concern- 
ing all  these  words." A  "  pit  without  water  "  is  one  from  which 

the  water  has  by  some  means  gone,  leaving  mud  on  the  bottom, 
exceedingly  offensive  and  often  miasmatic.  See  the  experiences 
of  Joseph  and  of  Jeremiah,  Gen.  37 :  24  and  Jer.  38  :  6.  The  Lord's 
people  are  thought  of  as  having  been  imprisoned  in  such  a  pit ;  but 
the  Lord  sends  them  forth.  The  past  tense,  rendered  "  have  sent," 
is  doubtless  used  because  the  event  is  so  fixed  in  the  counsels  of 
God  as  to  be  accounted  done.  Hence  this  tense  (the  perfect)  is 
used  by  the  prophets  even  for  events  yet  as  to  actual  occurrence  in 
15 


338  ZECHAPJAH.— CHAP.  IX. 

the  future.  This  was  to  occur  after  Zechariah's  clay.—"  Return 
ye  to  the  strong  hold  "—a  high  and  therefore  strong,  inaccessible 
position,  and  here  in  contrast  with  the  "  deep  pit  "  where  they  had 
lain  imprisoned.  Being  the  people  of  Jehovah  and  in  covenant 
with  him,  they  were  evermore  "prisoners  of  hope  "—prisoners 

having  just  ground  of  hope  in  his  protecting,  delivering  grace. 

To  "  render  double  "  is  to  give  them  blessings  twice  as  great  as 
their  afflictions  had  been.  See  the  same  expression,  Isa.  40  :  2  and 
61:7.  It  is  altogether  the  way  of  the  Lord  to  send  grief  and 
affliction  only  in  single  measure,  but  joy  and  blessing  in  double- 
weighing  out  the  retributions  of  justice  carefully  and  the  inflictions 
of  his  rod  very  tenderly ;  but  pouring  forth  the  bounties  of  his 
mercy  as  if  he  could  not  think  of  measuring  them  by  any  rule  less 

than  the  impulses  of  infinite  love  ! In  v.  13 — "Because  I  have 

trodden  Judah  for  my  bow,  and  filled  my  bow  with  Ephraim  as 
mine  arrow  " — means  that  the  Lord  is  to  use  the  military  strength 
of  Judah  and  Ephraim  in  protecting  his  land  against  the  Syrian 

armies. The  strong  bows  of  the  warrior  wrere  bent  by  using  the 

foot  as  well  as  the  hand.     Hence  the  phrase  "to  tread  the  bow," 

for  bending  it  to  fit  its  string  for  use. Applying  the  arrow 

"filled  the  bow" — this  being  a  necessary  complement,  without 

which  it  was  of  no  account. "  Raised  up  "  should  rather  be 

"  roused  up  " — exciting  and  inspiring  to  deeds  of  heroic  valor — all 
which  had  its  precise  fulfilment  in  those  inspirations  of  heroism 
with  which  the  Lord  anointed  the  souls  of  the  Maccabees  against 
their  Syrian  foes. 

14.  And  the  Lord  shall  be  seen  over  them,  and  his 
arrow  shall  go  forth  as  the  lightning  :  and  the  Lord  God 
shall  blow  the  trumpet,  and  shall  go  with  whirlwinds 
of  the  sonth. 

The  agencies  of  God's  providence  in  this  war  shall  be  as  pal- 
pable as  if  Jehovah  himself  were  visible  above  them  as  they  fought 
their  battles.  His  own  arrows  shall  go  forth  like  the  lightnings ; 
he  shall  blow  the  trumpet-blasts  of  the  battle,  and  shall  march 
upon  his  foes  as  in  the  whirlwinds  of  the  south — those  most  fear- 
ful tornadoes  that  carry  death  in  their  wings.  These  whirwinds 
of  the  south  are  referred  to  by  Job  (37 :  9),  and  by  Isaiah  (21  :  1). 
This  grouping  of  the  boldest  and  most  terrible  elements  of  nature 
represents  God's  agencies  in  those  wrars. 

15.  The  Lord  of  hosts  shall  defend  them  ;  and  they 
shall  devonr  and  subdue  with  sling-stones ;  and  they 
shall  drink,  and  make  a  noise  as  through  wine  ;  and 
they  shall  be  filled  like  bowls,  and  as  the  corners  of 
the  altar. 

"  The  Lord  of  hosts  "  ("  God  of  the  celestial  armies  "  is  the  right 


ZECHARIAIL— CHAP.  IX.  339 

name  to  use  here)  "  shall  defend  them  "  (literally,  shall  throw  his 
shield  over  them),  "and  they  shall  devour"  (literally  "eat"  as  it 
were  the  flesh  of  their  enemies),  "  and  shall  tread  down  sling- 
stones  " — implying  that  their  enemies  are  now  as  powerless  as  a 
small  sling-stone  when  lying  on  the  ground,  which  is  dangerous 
only  when  hurled  and  flying  from  its  sling.  The  sense  is  not — 
usuhdue  with  sling-stones,"  i.  e,,  of  their  own;  hut  tread  under 

foot  their  enemy  as  they  would  tread  upon  sling-stones. "  They 

shall  drink,"  i.  e.,  the  hlood  of  their  enemies,  as  men  drink  wine, 
and  shall  shout  as  men  under  its  stimulus,  and  be  filled  with  it  as 
the  howls  of  the  altar,  and  as  its  corners  upon  which  the  hlood  was 

daily  sprinkled. These  allusions  to  the  howls  and  the  corners  of 

the  altar  may  refer  tacitly  to  the  covenant  sealed  with  blood,  under 
which  help  came  from  God  for  victory. 

The  reader  will  be  careful  to  notice  the  contrast  between  these 
verses  (13-15)  and  the  Messianic  passage  (vs.  9,  10)  on  the  point  of 
war  with  deadly  weapons.  Under  Messiah's  peaceful  reign  there 
shall  be  no  chariots  or  horses  of  war  ;  the  battle-bow  shall  be  cut 
off  and  unknown :  but  here,  in  the  age  before  Messiah  came,  Ju- 
dah  is  the  Lord's  bow,  Ephraim  his  arrow  ;  the  Lord  fights  at  their 
head,  and  they  too  fight  with  determined  and  almost  furious  bra- 
very.  The  Lord  had  his  own  reasons  for  making  the  age  before 

Messiah  came  so  militant.  Let  us  not  question  their  wisdom  or 
their  love.  But  manifestly  it  is  his  purpose  in  this  chapter  to  put 
the  future  kingdom  of  the  Messiah  in  the  strongest  possible  con- 
trast with  those  militant  features  of  the  earlier  age,  and  to  assure 
us  that  in  the  good  time  coming  men  shall  truly  "learn  war  no 
more."  The  gospel,  having  once  developed  its  whole  genius  and 
power,  shall  prove  itself  thoroughly  and  only  "peace  on  earth  and 
good  will  to  men." 

16.  And  the  Lord  their  God  shall  save  them  in  that 
day  as  the  flock  of  his  people :  for  they  shall  he  as  the 
stones  of  a  crown,  lifted  up  as  an  ensign  upon  his  land. 

"  The  Lord  their  God  shall  save  them  as  the  flock  of  his  people  " 
—as  if  he  were  indeed  their  own  shepherd.  "Because  diadem- 
stones,"  the  jewels  of  a  crown,  "  are  they,"  borne  on  the  head  of 

a  conquering  king,  and  waving  high  over  his  land. A  beautiful 

contrast  should  be  noted  here  between  their  Syrian  foes — sling- 
stones  under  foot — and  themselves  crown-stones,  precious  gems, 
set  in  a  crown,  and  borne  aloft  over  the  land  on  the  head  of 
conquerors. 

17.  For  how  great  is  his  goodness,  and  how  great  is 
his  beauty!  corn  shall  make  the  young  men  cheerful, 
and  new  wine  the  maids. 

There  is  good  reason  for  this  exclamation  of  surprise  and  joy  in 
view  of  the  goodness  of  God  to  his  people,  and  the  beauty  of  his 


340  ZECHARIAR— CHAP.  X. 

providential  dispensations  as  seen  in  the  time  of  those  Syrian  Avars. 

In  the  last  clause,  "  cheerful "  is  not  precisely  the  idea,  but 

rather  fruitful,  prolific,  which,  according  to  well-known  Jewish 
ideas,  was  one  of  the  most  conclusive  and  joyous  proofs  of  great 
prosperity.  Early  marriages,  healthful  parents,  "sons  as  plants 
grown  up  in  their  youth  ;  "  daughters  as  corner-stones,  polished  after 
the  similitude  of  a  palace  :  u  happy  is  that  people  that  is  in  such  a 
case"  (Ps.  144:  12-15).  "Happy  is  the  man  that  hath  his  quiver 
full  of  them  "  (Ps.  127 :  5). these  are  the  peaceful  and  pros- 
perous times  that  succeed  those  wars. 


CHAPTER  X. 

This  chapter  is  a  continuation  from  the  close  of  chapter  9,  and 
hence  has  for  its  ground  idea  the  wars  of  the  Maccabees  against  the 
Syrian  power.  V.  1  stands  immediately  connected  with  9  :  17,  in- 
dicating the  external  prosperity  that  succeeded  those  wars ;  v.  2 
falls  back  to  note  the  apostasies  which  brought  on  this  Syrian 
scourge ;  v.  3  the  zeal  and  jealousy  of  the  Lord  kindled  against  the 
corrupt  Jewish  leaders,  and  the  remedy  for  their  mischiefs ;  in  v.  4 
men  rise  up,  capable  of  filling  positions  of  responsible  trust;  in  v.  5 
they  fight  valiantly,  because  the  Lord  is  with  them,  and  confounds 
their  foes.  In  vs.  6-12,  on  the  basis  of  this  great  deliverance 
wrought  for  his  people,  the  prophet  predicts  that  in  times  more 
remote  the  Lord  will  work  similar  but  yet  more  glorious  achieve- 
ments for  his  Zion. 

1.  Ask  ye  of  the  Lord  rain  in  the  time  of  the  latter 
rain;  so  the  Lord  shall  make  bright  clouds,  and  give 
them  showers  of  rain,  to  every  one  grass  in  the  field. 

Under  the  ancient  dispensation  the  Lord  gave  timely  rains  and 
abundant  harvests  to  his  people  when  they  were  obedient  and 
trustful,  and  sought  him  in  prayer.  lie  took  care  to  have  them 
understand  this  from  the  outset.  See  Deut.  11:  13,  14: — aAnd  it 
shall  come  to  pass  that  if  ye  shall  hearken  diligently  unto  my  com- 
mandments which  I  command  you  this  day,  to  love  the  Lord  your 
God,  and  to  serve  him  with  all  your  heart,  and  with  all  your  soul, 
that  I  will  give  you  the  rain  of  your  land  in  his  due  season,  the  first 
rain  and  the  latter  rain,  that  thou  mayest  gather  in  thy  corn  and 

thy  wine  and  thy  oil." Hence  the  prophet  says  here  :  "Ask  of 

the  Lord  rain  " — it  comes  for  the  asking,  for  the  Lord  your  God  hears 
the  prayer  of  his  obedient  people.     Rain  "in  the  time  of  the  latter 

rain"  was  especially  useful    to   perfect  the   maturing   crops. 

"So  the  Lord  shall  give"— not  "bright  clouds,"  but  "light- 
nings," always  portending  rain. The  Hebrew  wwds  translated 

"  showers  of  rain  "  imply  abundance—"  the  rain  of  great  rain  "—so 


ZECnARIAH.— CHAP.  X.  3-tl 

that  not  in  detached  districts  alone,  but  over  the  whole  land,  "  every 
one  shall  have  grass  in  the  field." 

2.  For  the  idols  have  spoken  vanity,  and  the  diviners 
have  seen  a  lie,  and  have  told  false  dreams ;  they  com- 
fort in  vain  :  therefore  they  went  their  way  as  a  flock, 
they  were  troubled  because  there  was  no  shepherd. 

The  reason  is  given  here  why  the  Lord  comes  to  the  rescue ; 
"/or  the  people  have  been  sorely  deceived  by  diviners  and  by  the 
priests  of  idol  gods,  and  have  been  seduced  away  from  me,"  allud- 
ing to  the  antecedent  apostasy  which,  was  the  occasion  and  procur- 
ing cause  of  that  fearful  Syrian  scourge.  Historical  evidence  to 
this  apostasy  exists  in  1  Mac.  1 :  11-15. The  "idols,"  is  in  He- 
brew "the  teraphim,"  household  gods  which  appear  not  unfre- 
quently  in  Jewish  history,  e.  g.,  withEachel  (Gen.  31 :  19,  34);  with 
Michal,  Saul's  daughter  (1  Sam.  19  :  13,  16) ;  with  Micah  in  Judges 

17 : 5,  &c,  &c. All  the  light  that  came  from  these  gods   and 

diviners  was  only  darkness;  their  guidance  only  misled  the  people  ; 
the  hopes  tliey  inspired  were  worse  than  vain ;  consequently  the 
whole  people  were  led  off  in  a  wrong  and  ruinous  way,  going  en 
masse,  as  a  flock  of  sheep  follow  the  lead  given  them.  They  were 
in  great  affliction  (the  sense  of  the  word  rendered  "  were  troubled  "), 
because  there  was  no  competent  and  real  shepherd. 

3.  Mine  anger  was  kindled  against  the  shepherds, 
and  I  punished  the  goats :  for  the  Lord  of  hosts  hath 
visited  his  flock  the  house  of  Jndah,  and  hath  made  them 
as  his  goodly  horse  in  the  battle. 

"My  wrath"  (saith  the  Lord)  "is  kindled  against  those  shep- 
herds "  who  so  mislead  the  people.  "  I  will  punish  the  he-goats," 
so  called  because  the  he-goat  leads  the  flock. — ■ — "For  the  Lord 
hath  visited  his  flock,"  implying  that  he  is  the  real  shepherd  of  the 
house  of  Judah,  and  hath  made  them  victorious  in  the  conflict 
against  their  enemies,  crowning  them  with  honor  before  the  nation, 
as  he  indicates  by  comparing  them  to  his  own  horse,  one  specially 

honored  by  his  own  use  in  the  day  of  battle. In  the  middle  of 

the  verse  is  a  .play  upon  the  two  meanings  of  the  usual  Hebrew 
word  for  visit*  which,  with  a  preposition  following,  equivalent  to 
upon,  means  to  inflict  judgment ;  but  standing  alone  means  to  look 
after  in  a  good  sense.  God  will  look  after  those  enemies  in  the 
sense  of  visiting  upon  them  his  plagues ;  but  will  look  after  his  peo- 
ple in  the  sense  of  looking  into  their  case  with  kindness,  and  redress- 
ing their  wrongs  with  his  glorious  right  arm. 

4.  Out  of  him  came  forth  the  corner,  out  of  him  the 


34.2  ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  X. 

nail,  out  of  liiin  the  battle-bow,  out  of  him  every  oppress- 
or together. 

When  the  Lord  visits  Judah  in  mercy,  he  gives  her  the  very 
blessings  she  needs— good  leaders  in  place  of  the  had  who  had  been 
so  sore  a  curse  upon  her.  Hence  out  of  Judah  now  come  forth  the 
u  corner-stone  "  men,  good  for  bearing  the  weightiest  responsibilities : 
the  "  nail "  men,  to  hold  things  in  their  right  place,  or  to  bear  great 
burdens.  "  The  battle-bow  "  are  the  men  skilful  in  the  line  of  war, 
but  the  word  rendered  "  oppressor  "  does  not  in  this  passage  im- 
ply any  injustice,  but  only  an  active,  vigorous,  and  capable  ruler. 

The   nail,  in   oriental   use,  was  rather  a  spike   or  tent-pin, 

sometimes  so  large  that  all  the  kitchen  utensils  were  hung  upon  it. 
(See  Isa.  22  :  23,  25  and  Ezra  9  :  8.) 

5.  And  they  shall  be  as  mighty  men,  which  tread 
down  their  enemies  in  the  mire  of  the  streets  in  the  bat- 
tle: and  they  shall  fight,  because  the  Loud  is  with 
them,  and  the  riders  on  horses  shall  be  confounded. 

This  graphic  and  vigorous  description  of  the  Lord's  valiant  war- 
riors corresponds  admirably  with  the  historic  character  of  the  Mac- 
cabean  brothers,  who  girded  themselves  for  heroic  fight  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord  God  of  their  fathers.  They  felt  that  the  Lord  was  with 
them.  The  "  riders  on  horses"  were  their  Syrian  invaders.  The 
history  makes  frequent  mention  of  large  bodies  of  horsemen  in  their 
armies,  e.  g.,  1  Mac.  3  :  39 :  "  Seven  thousand  horsemen,"  and  4  : 1, 
"  one  thousand  of  the  best  horsemen,"  &c.  They  were  confounded 
to  meet  such  power  among  those  despised  Jews. 

6.  And  I  will  strengthen  the  house  of  Judah,  and  I 
will  save  the  house  of  Joseph,  and  I  will  bring  them 
again  to  place  them ;  for  I  have  mercy  upon  them  :  and 
they  shall  be  as  though  I  had  not  cast  them  off :  for  I 
am  the  Loed  their  God,  and  will  hear  them. 

The  general  conception  in  this  verse  is  that  of  reproducing  the 
best  days  of  Israel,  e.  g.,  under  David  and  Solomon.  Consequently 
"  Joseph,"  the  ten  tribes,  must  be  saved ;  the  people  all  made  ready 
to  "  dicelV1  in  a  settled  and  secure  way  in  their  own  land,  the  Lord 
showing  his  mercy  upon  them  even  as  though  he  had  not  ever  cast 

them  off  for  their  sins. But  this  conception  carries  us  onward 

into  the  Messianic  age,  and  could  have  its  fulfilment  in  nothing 
short  or  less.  The  recall  of  the  ten  tribes,  in  any  age  subsequent 
to  Zechariah,  must,  of  necessity,  be  regarded  as  Messianic,  and  to 
be  fulfilled  only  in  the  New  Testament  sense. With  these  prin- 
ciples of  interpretation  before  the  mind,  this  entire  passage  (vs. 
6-12)  becomes  not  only  clear  and  free  from  its  otherwise  insur- 
mountable difficulties,  but  rich  in  gospel  significance  and  in  the 
fulness  of  glorious  promise  for  Zion  in  her  latter  days. 


ZECHAEIAH.— CHAP.  X.  343 

7.  And  they  of  Epliraim  shall  be  like  a  mighty  man, 
and  their  hearts  shall  rejoice  as  through  wine:  yea, 
the  children  shall  see  it,  and  be  glad ;  their  hearts  shall 
rejoice  in  the  Loud. 

8.  I  will  hiss  for  them,  and  gather  them ;  for  I  have 
redeemed  them :  and  they  shall  increase  as  they  have 
increased. 

9.  And  I  will  sow  them  among  the  people :  and  they 
shall  remember  me  in  far  countries ;  and  they  shall  live 
with  their  children,  and  turn  again. 

"  Epliraim  "  contemplates  in  its  literal  sense  the  ten  tribes ;  but 
in  its  real  prophetic  outlook,  the  ingathering  of  the  nations  to  Jesus 
Christ  in  the  gospel  age.  A  Jew  in  the  time  of  Zechariah  could 
conceive  of  no  state  of  things  more  desirable  than  the  reproducing 
of  the  good  times  of  David  and  Solomon.  Hence  language  and 
figures  are  drawn  from  that  state  to  represent  the  best  condition 
possible  for  God's  earthly  kingdom — the  sublimely  glorious  con- 
quests of  peace  and  victories  of  love  in  the  latter  days. In  v.  8 

Epliraim  comes  back  with  heart  full  of  joy ;  the  Lord  lifts  up  his 

shrill  cry  for  them,  as  the  keeper  of  bees  whistles  for  them,  and  they 

'come  to  his  call.     They  multiply  as  of  old  (Ephraim  took  his  name 

from  the  idea  of  being  prolific  in  population). In  v.  9  God  will 

scatter  them  abroad  among  the  nations,  and  there,  under  the  moral 
influence  of  this  affliction,  they  shall  remember  the  Lord  their  God 

and  repent  of  their  great   sins. So  the  Lord  said  by   Hosea 

(2 : 4),  "  I  will  allure  her  into   the  wilderness  and  speak  to  her 

heart." "  They  shall  live  with  their  children  " — live  in  the  high 

spiritual  sense,  with  allusion  perhaps  to  Ezek.  37 :  9  :  "  Come  from 
the  four  winds,  O  breath,  and  breathe  upon  these  slain,  that  they 

may  live" "With  their  children,"  implies  that  these  blessings 

go  down  to  future  generations — not  to  themselves  alone,  but  to 
their  children  after  them  as  well. 

10.  I  will  bring  them  again  also  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt,  and  gather  them  out  of  Assyria ;  and  I  will  bring 
them  into  the  land  of  Gilead  and  Lebanon ;  and  place 
shall  not  be  found  for  them. 

These  words  must  be  understood  as  historic  allusion,  and  not  as 
specific  and  literal  prediction.  The  sense  is  not — I  will  gather  my 
captives  out  of  Egypt  and  out  of  Assyria,  but — I  will  do  a  similar 
thing  to  the  great  achievement  of  bringing  my  people  out  of  Egypt 
under  Moses.  I  will  redeem  them  from  a  second  Egypt,  and  save 
them  from  a  second  Assyrian  Sennacherib.  That  only  Egypt  and 
Assyria,  and  not  Chaldea,  are  referred  to,  is  explained  by  the  fact 
that  the  kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes  had  disappeared  before  the  Chal- 
dean came  into  notice ;  hence,  Ephraim  never  knew  Chaldea  as  an 


344  ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  X. 

enemy. Note  also  that  the  prophet  does  not  say  they  shall  re- 

turn  to  Judah  and  Jerusalem ;  but,  to  show  the  enlargement  of 
the  Lord's  kingdom,  he  names  "Gilead,"  the  extensive  region  on  the 
east  of  Jordan,  and  "Lebanon,"  on  the  north,  which  lay  outside 
the  usual  boundaries  of  the  tribes  of  Israel;  and,  indeed,  he  says, 

"  place  large  enough  shall  not  be  found  for  them." But  this  has 

never  been  fulfilled  in  the  lineal  descendants  of  Abraham,  nor  can 
it  ever  be.  Their  numbers,  all  told  to-day,  would  not  meet  the  de- 
mands of  this  prophecy,  interpreted  however  moderately.  TVe  must, 
therefore,  find  Israel  and  Ephraim  in  that  new  era  of  Messiah's  king- 
dom in  which  there  is  no  distinction  of  Jew  and  Greek,  but  all  are 

one  in  Christ  Jesus. Yet  another  reason  for  omitting  to  name 

Judah  and  Jerusalem  is,  that  the  prophet  has  in  mind  the  ten  tribes 
specially,  and  not  Judah.  The  demand  for  restoring  mercy  lay 
chiefly  in  their  direction,  as  seen  in  the  age  of  Zechariah.  Further, 
the  Jews  were  never  carried  captive  literally  into  Egypt.  If  any 
Jews  fled  thither  for  refuge  in  those  seasons  when  their  homes  were 
broken  up,  they  went  and  were  received  as  friends.  But  v.  11  con- 
ceives of  their  rescue  from  Egypt  as  being  from  the  hand  of  enemies, 
a  fact  which  shows  that  Egypt  conies  in  here  only  by  way  of  historic 

allusion. Arguing  against  the  doctrine  of  a  literal  restoration  of 

the  Jews  to  Palestine,  Dr.  llengstenberg  pertinently  says :  "  If  it 
cannot  be  denied  that  the  lands  out  of  which  the  Israelites  were 
brought  back,  are  to  be  understood  only  as  types,  what  objection 
can  be  urged  if  the  land  to  which  they  shall  be  restored  is  in  like 
manner  to  be  regarded  as  a  type?  "     (Christology,  ii.,  143.) 

11.  And  lie  shall  pass  through  the  sea  with,  affliction, 
and  shall  smite  the  waves  in  the  sea,  and  all  the  deeps 
of  the  rivers  shall  dry  tip  :  and  the  pride  of  Assyria 
shall  be  brought  down,  and  the  sceptre  of  Egypt  shall 
depart  away. 

This  verse  begins  with  a  change  of  person  from  the  first,  ';  I,"  as 
in  vs.  6-10,  to  the  third,  "he."    But  "he"  must  be  understood  of 

the  same  Lord  God. The  "  sea  "  can  be  no  other  than  the  Bed 

Sea,  named  by  way  of  historic  allusion.  The  Lord  passes  through 
it  at  the  head  of  his  people  to  achieve  a  like  deliverance  to  that  of 

the  Exodus  from  Egypt. Not  "  with  affliction,"  for  there  is  no 

word  corresponding  to  "  with,"  and  nothing  out  of  which  to  make 
this  sense;  but  the  sea  which  is  itself  then*  affliction — which  stands 
in  then  way,  and  is  the  occasion  of  their  trouble — in  apposition 
with  the  word  "  sea."  "Whatever  their  affliction  may  be,  analogous  to 
the  Bed  Sea  of  the  olden  time,  the  Lord  will  march  through  it  at  the 

head  of  his  people. "  And  he  will  smite  the  waves  "  in  that  sea 

which  represents  their  affliction,  as  he  is  wont  to  smite  his  enemies. 
— -"  And  all  the  depths  of  the  Nile  shall  be  dried  up  " — with  his- 
toric reference  to  the  Jordan,  which,  however,  being  a  comparatively 
small  stream,  is  not  itself  named  here,  but  the  usual  word  for  the 


ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  XI.  345. 

Nile  is  taken  instead.   That  is,  the  idea  of  drying  up  comes  from  the 

Jordan ;    the  magnitude  of  the  stream  from  the   Nile. Isaiah 

(11 :  15,  16)  has  a  very  similar  allusion  to  the  passage  of  the  Red  Sea. 

"The  pride  of  Assyria"  and  uthe  sceptre  of  Egypt"  are  also 

historic  allusions  to  those  hostile  powers  from  whom  Israel  had  suf- 
fered so  much.  The  sense  is — God  will  humble  all  the  foes  of  Zion, 
aud  will  effectually  break  in  pieces  their  power  to  harm. 

12.  And  I  will  strengthen  tliem  in  the  Loed  ;  and 
they  shall  walk  up  and  down  in  his  name,  saith  the 
Loed. 

Finally,  they  shall  be  made  gloriously  strong  in  the  Lord,  and 
through  his  strength  alone.  So  shall  they  walk  up  and  down,  trav- 
erse the  land  at  their  will,  or  in  their  duty,  without  fear.  No  harm 
can  befall  them,  since  they  walk  with  God. Many  parallel  pas- 
sages might  be  cited  from  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Ilosea,  and  Micah,  serv- 
ing to  confirm  the  general  interpretation  here  given,  and  to  show 
that  the  prophets  harmonize  remarkably  in  these  views  of  the 
general  course  of  events  in  the  great  future  of  Zion;  and  also  to 
show  that  they  give  the  same  sense  to  individual  and  special  phrases. 
It  has  not  seemed  necessary  to  collate  and  compare  these  texts, 

except  in  passages  of  special  difficulty. The  reader  will  find  in 

Isaiah  11 :  11-16  a  passage  remarkably  similar  to  this  in  all  impor- 
tant respects.  It  is  beyond  all  question  Messianic;  so  must  this  be 
also. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

If  the  Book  of  Zechariah  be  divided  into  two  portions,  the  first 
six  chapters  being  the  first  division,  and  the  remaining  eight  the 
second,  then  this  eleventh  will  be  a  digression  from  the  current 
strain  of  promised  blessings  in  the  second  portion,  very  analogous 
to  the  fifth  chapter  in  the  first  part.  As  the  fifth  was  interposed 
for  the  purpose  of  moral  warning  to  the  careless,  apprising  them 
that  the  judgments  of  God  awaited  the  guilty,  so  here  this  eleventh 
chapter  is  interposed  for  the  same  purpose.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  it  predicts  judgments  on  the  covenant  people  at  some  period 

of  their  history  then  future. The  manner  of  presenting  this  truth 

is  very  peculiar,  essentially  that  of  symbolic  vision — a  case  quite 
unique  in  the  respect  that,  in  vision  only,  and  not  in  actuality,  and 
as  personating,  not  himself,  but  others,  the  prophet  is  required  to 
perform  the  functions  of  a  shepherd  to  the  Lord's  people,  consid- 
ered as  his  flock.  On  this  theory  of  interpreting  the  chapter  the 
best  modern  commentators  are  united.  Despite  of  the  unique  pe- 
culiarities of  the  case,  it  is  generally  agreed  that  the  chapter  pre- 
dicts the  overthrow  of  the  Jewish  state,  and  the  ruin  of  their  city 
and  temple,  effected  by  the  Romans,  about  a.  d.  70,  in  consequence 
15* 


346  ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  XI. 

of  their  national  corruption,  and  of  their  blind  and  mad  rejection 
of  their  Messiah.  The  prophet,  acting  the  part  of  a  good  shepherd 
(vs.  4-14),  personates  the  Messiah  himself.  Acting  the  part  of  the 
foolish  shepherd  (vs.  15-17),  he  personates  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees 

of  the  Saviour's  day. The  first  three  verses,  wrought  up  in  high 

poetic  imagery,  predict  the  fall  of  the  nation  before  the  Eoman 
arms ;  while  the  remaining  part  of  the  chapter  gives  the  antecedent 
moral  causes  of  that  fall.  Whereas  those  morally  blinded  and  hard- 
ened Jews  had  said  in  the  madness  of  then*  wrath  against  the  spot- 
less Bedeemer,  "His  blood  be  on  us  and  on  our  children,"  on  them 
and  on  their  children  his  blood  did  come,  and  their  blood  flowed 
like  rivers  of  water!  The  Saviour  himself  had  said,  "Behold  your 
house  is  left  unto  you  desolate."  Here  is  an  earlier  prediction  of 
those  fearful  retributions.     History  endorses  its  accuracy  to  the  very 

letter. The  comprehensive  thought  of  this  chapter  is,  therefore, 

Judaism,  utterly  corrupt  and  apostate,  repelling  the  merciful  ef- 
forts of  her  Redeemer  to  reclaim  and,  save  her,  and  thus  bringing 
on  herself  dire  destruction. The  divisions  of  the  chapter  are  al- 
ready indicated  incidentally:  vs.  1-3,  a  comprehensive  prediction 
of  ruin  upon  their  city  and  nation ;  vs.  4-14,  the  causes  of  this  ruin 
shown  to  lie  in  the  utter  corruption  of  those  orders  (the  priests, 
scribes,  and  doctors  of  the  law)  who  should  have  been,  under  God, 
their  good  shepherds,  and  their  consequent  rejection  of  their  true 
Shepherd,  Jesus,  the  Messiah.  Lastly,  vs.  15-17  give  the  course 
and  doom  of  those  corrupt  teachers,  specially  personated  by  the 
prophet,  acting  the  part  of  a  foolish  shepherd. 

1.  Open  thy  doors,  O  Lebanon,  that  the  fire  may  de- 
vour thy  cedars. 

Lebanon  and  her  lofty  cedars  represent  Jerusalem ;  her  doors, 
the  gates  of  the  city.  Hence  this  is  a  summons  to  Jerusalem  to  pre- 
pare for  approaching  ruin.  The  ground  of  this  poetical  conception 
of  Lebanon  for  Jerusalem  may  be  a  tacit  analogy  between  them — 
Lebanon  one  of  the  grandest  objects  in  the  realm  of  nature,  Jeru- 
salem in  the  realm  of  art ;  Lebanon  among  the  works  of  God,  Je- 
rusalem among  the  works  of  man — with,  perhaps,  a  side-look  to  the 
fact  that  the  temple  was  largely  built  with  cedars  from  Lebanon. 

2.  Howl,  fir-tree,  for  the  cedar  is  fallen';  because  the 
mighty  are  spoiled  :  howl,  O  ye  oaks  of  Bashan,  for  the 
forest  of  the  vintage  is  come  down. 

The  sentiment  is— This  destruction  shall  be  complete.  The  lof- 
tiest   and    strongest   fall;    how,  then,   can   the    feebler  hope    to 

stand? The  same  strain  of  poetic  conception  is  carried  through 

the  verse,  the  grandest  trees  of  the  forest  representing  Jerusalem 
and  other  strongholds  of  the  nation.  "Wail,  O  cypress,  for  the  ce- 
dar lias  fallen  "  (*.  e.,  what  were  most  lofty  are"  now  destroyed) ; 
'wad,  ye  oaks  of  Bashan.  for  the  forest  of  the  inaccessible  raoun- 


ZECHAMAH.— CHAP.  XL  34? 

tain-heights  is  laid  low."  "If  these  things  be  done  in  the  green 
tree,  what  shall  be  done  in  the  dry?  " 

3.  There  is  a  voice  of  the  howling  of  the  shepherds ; 
for  their  glory  is  spoiled :  a  voice  of  the  roaring  of 
young  lions ;  for  the  pride  of  Jordan  is  spoiled. 

Here  the  figures  turn  from  inanimate  nature  to  animate.  The 
ornament  and  glory  of  the  shepherds  are  their  rich  pastures — now 
laid  waste.  Compare  Jer.  25 :  36 :  "A  voice  of  the  cry  of  the  shep- 
herds, and  an  howling  of  the  principal  of  the  flock ;  for  the  Lord  hath 

spoiled  their  pasture." "  The  pride  of  Jordan,"  in  which  the 

young  lion  made  his  lair,  were  the  dense  thickets  along  his  banks. 
This  phrase  was  already  in  use  by  Jeremiah,  whom  Zechariah  fol- 
lows remarkably  in  his  terms  and  phrases.  See  Jer.  12  :  5,  where 
the  "  swelling  of  Jordan  "  is  the  same  original  phrase  here  rendered 
"pride  of  Jordan."  So  also,  Jer.  49:19,  and  50:44 — in  all  cases 
said  of  the  thick  undergrowths  along  the  Jordan,  where  the  lions 

had  their  homes. The  sentiment  is  here  the  same  as  above — All 

classes  of  people  are  in  distress,  for  their  choicest  treasures  are 
wasted;  what  they  most  love  and  value  is  in  ruins.  A  poetic 
imagination  seizes  on  the  ruin  of  individual  classes,  and  by  a  few 
•  striking  details  gives  a  vivid  conception  of  the  universal  desola- 
tion. 

4.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  my  God ;  Feed  the  flock  of 
the  slaughter ; 

As  already  stated,  vs.  4-14  are  a  sort  of  parable — a  dramatic 
scene,  in  which  the  prophet  personates  the  Messiah,  and  represents 
in  himself  what  the  Messiah  was  to  do  for  the  Jewish  nation,  con- 
sidered as  the  people  of  God.  The  figure  throughout  is  that  of  a 
shepherd  and  his  flock — a  figure  often  applied  to  the  spiritual  rela- 
tions of  the  Lord  to  his  people.  Those  who  act  under  and  for  him, 
ministering  to  the  religious  life  of  his  people,  are  also  called  shep- 
herds, pastors  of  his  people.  This  figure  had  become  very  common 
in  the  age  of  Zechariah,  and  of  the  prophets  during  the  captivity. 
The  reader  will  see,  in  Ezek.  34  and  Jer.  23,  how  familiar  those 
prophets  were  with  this  conception,  and  how  much  use  they  made 
of  it  to  set  forth  the  relations  sustained  by  the  Lord  toward  his  peo- 
ple. It  also  served  with  them,  as  with  Zechariah,  to  represent  how 
fearfully  the  priests  and  prophets  of  that  age  had  degenerated,  and 

were  scattering  and  wasting  the  sheep  of  the  Lord's  pasture. 

"  The  flock  of  the  slaughter  "  means  the  flock  doomed  to  slaughter 
for  their  sins — the  Jewish  people,  now  ripe  for  the  fearful  retributive 
judgments  of  the  Almighty. 

5.  "Whose  possessors  slay  them,  and  hold  themselves 
not  guilty :  and  they  that  sell  them  say,  Blessed  be  the 
Lord  ;  for  I  am  rich :  and  their  own  shepherds  pity 
them  not. 


348 


ZECHAPJAH.— CHAP,  Zl. 


The  persons  of  the  drama  in  this  verse  are  (1.)  The  flock,  who 
are  the  Jews  during  the  period  a.  d.  30-fO,  conceived  of  as  the  flock 
of  the  Lord's  pastures ;  (2.)  Their  Myers  ("  possessors  ")  and  their 
sellers,  the  Eomans;  and  (3.)  Their  own  shepherds,  the  priests, 
Scribes,  and  Pharisees,  who  should  have  taught  them  the  knowledge 
of  God,  hut  who  had  no  care  or  pity  for  their  deplorable  moral 

condition. Their  buyers  who  buy  them  for  slaughter  kill  them 

and  are  not  punished  as  guilty,  because  it  is  of  the  Lord  to  scourge 
the  nation  for  its  great  sins.  The  verb  here  used  *  has  only  these 
two  well-established  senses  :  (1.)  To  sin;  (2.)  To  suffer  punishment 
for  sin.  See  notes  on  Hos.  5  :  15.  It  occurs  Jer.  2  :  3  and  50  :  7, 
both  of  which  passages  strikingly  illustrate  the  sense  of  the  clause 
before  us.  The  former,  referring  to  the  time  when  Israel  was  holi- 
ness to  the  Lord,  says — "  All  that  devour  him  offend,''''  i,  e.,  sin 
against  God,  and  shall  suffer  punishment ;  "  evil  shall  come  upon 
them,  saith  the  Lord."  The  latter,  referring  to  a  time  when  the 
Lord  would  scourge  his  people,  reads — "  All  that  found  them  have 
devoured  them  ;  their  adversaries  said,  ~We  offend  not,  because  they 
have  sinned  against  the  Lord.'1  It  is  remarkable  that  foreign 
enemies  whom  the  Lord  made  use  of  to  scourge  his  people,  seem  to 
have  in  some  sort  understood  why  the  Lord  gave  them  this  license. 
The  king  of  Assyria  (Isa.  36  :10)  said  :  "  Am  I  now  come  up  with- 
out the  Lord  against  this  land  to  destroy  it?     The  Lord  said  unto 

me,  Go  up  against  this  land  to  destroy  it." That  "  they  who  sell 

them  bless  the  Lord  for  their  gains,"  corresponds  to  the  clause, 
"  they  are  not  punished  "  ("  offend  not  ").  They  think  they  are  doing 
God  service,  and  thank  him  for  the  personal  selfish  good  they  get 
as  if  all  were  morally  right. 

6.  For  I  will  no  more  pity  the  inhabitants  of  the 
land,  saith  the  Lord  :  but  lo,  I  will  deliver  the  men 
every  one  into  his  neighbor's  hand,  and  into  the  hand 
of  his  king :  and  they  shall  smite  the  land,  and  out  of 
their  hand  I  will  not  deliver  them. 

The  reason  for  the  ruin  that  comes  thus  terribly  on  the  covenant 
people  is  that  God  has  given  them  over  to  destruction  for  their  in- 
corrigible sins. The  repetition  of  the  verb  rendered  "  pity  "  is 

a  play  upon  the  word,  thus :  As  their  shepherds  have  lost  all  pity 
for  the  moral  condition  of  their  flock,  so  will  I  abjure  all  pity  for 
them,  flock  and  shepherd  both  ;  and  will  give  them  over  to  remedi- 
less ruin. This  doom,  thus  made  prophetically  specific,  is  shown 

by  the  history  to  be  drawn  with  entire  accuracy.  The  facts  were, 
that  the  people  had  no  head ;  that  intestine  discord  and  civil  war 
were  scarcely  less  destructive  than  the  Eoman  sword.  Every  one 
was  delivered  into  the  hand  of  his  neighbor  and  into  the  hand  of 
the  Eoman  king.     The  slaughter  was  terrific,  scarcely  equalled  by 

*  D85N 


ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  XI.  349 

any  other  scene  recorded  in  authentic  history.  Joscphus  is  the  chief 
original  authority.  His  statements  are  full  and  reliable.  According 
to  his  account,  the  loss  of  life  on  the  Jewish  side,  during  that  horri- 
ble siege  and  capture,  could  not  have  been  less  than  eleven  hundred 
thousand ! 

7.  And  I  will  feed  the  flock  of  slaughter,  even  yon, 
O  poor  of  the  flock.  And  I  took  unto  me  two  staves ; 
the  one  I  called  Beauty,  and  the  other  I  called  Bands ; 
and  I  fed  the  flock. 

Not  "  I  id  ill  feed,"  for  this  fails  to  give  the  tense  of  the  origi- 
nal ;  but,  "  so  then  I  fed  the  flock  doomed  to  slaughter  because  of 
the  poor  of  the  flock  " — i.  <?.,  out  of  my  pity  for  the  poor  ones  of 
the  flock — a  pertinent  and  beautiful  statement  of  the  labor  and  love 
of  their  own  Messiah,  who  was  so  often  "moved  with  compassion 
when  he  saw  the  people  as  sheep  having  no  shepherd.1'  For  the 
proud  and  self-righteous  and  for  those  who  were  rich  toward  this 
world  but  not  rich  toward  God,  he  manifested  no  specially  tender 
pity ;  but  for  the  masses  who  had  no  shepherd,  and  especially  for 
the  poor,  his  heart  was  tenderly  touched.  In  the  line  of  pure  benev- 
olence he  rose  indefinitely  high  above  all  other  religious  teachers 
of  every  age  in  this — "  lie  preached  the  gospel  to  the  poor." 

These  "staves  "were  the  usual  well-known  shepherd's  crook, 
the  only  special  instrument  used  by  the  shepherd ;  useful  to  him 
both  in  the  management  of  the  flock,  and  in  repelling  its  enemies. 
They  represent  here  those  providential  agencies  by  which  the  Lord 
aided  the  pastoral  work  of  the  Messiah  over  his  people,  as  appears  from 
their  significant  names.  The  one  he  called  Grace  (not  so  properly 
"  Beauty  "),  but  grace  in  the  sense  of  that  divine  favor  which  re- 
strained hostile  heathen  nations  from  assaulting  the  people  of  the 

Lord  while  they  faithfully  served  him. The  other,  "Bands,"  was 

a  crook  of  cords,  significant  of  those  providential  agencies  which 
held  the  people  together  in  peace.  With  these  aids  he  acted  the 
part  of  a  shepherd  to  the  flock. 

8.  Three  shepherds  also  I  cut  off  in  one  month  ;  and 
my  soul  loathed  them,  and  their  soul  also  abhorred  me. 

The  prophet,  personating  the  Messiah,  is  ^supposed  to  have  sub- 
ordinate shepherds  under  him.  These  three  shepherds  cannot 
mean  three  individuals.  The  general  strain  of  the  subject  forbids 
this.  Besides,  Zechariah  is  wont  to  present  individuals  as  represent- 
atives of  orders  or  classes  of  men.  See  chap.  3,  throughout,  where 
Joshua  represents  the  order  of  priests  ;  and  4 :  14,  where  the  two 
anointed  ones  must  mean  the  two  orders,  the  regal  and  the  priestly, 

which  were  inducted  into  office  by  the  ceremony  of  anointing. 

Here  we  must  suppose  that  the  prophet  takes  the  number  three 
from  precisely  those  three  established  orders  upon  whom  the  pasto- 
ral responsibility  of  caring  under  God  for  the  covenant  people  de- 
volved— priests,  prophets,  and  civil  magistrates.     (See  Jer.  2 :  8,  2G 


350  ZECIIAMAH.— CHAP.  XI. 

and  18:  18.)  Those  who  represented  these  classes  during  our  Lord's 
public  ministry  must  be  specially  intended  here,  probably  the 
priests;  the  scribes  in  the  place  of  the  ancient  prophets;  and  the 
civil  magistrates.  The  Lord  Jesus  rejected  them  from  their  places 
of  trust,  not  instantaneously,  but  very  summarily,  as  "  one  month  " 
shows.  It  was  the  labor  of  his  public  life.  The  history  of  our 
Lord's  public  ministry,  in  its  relation  to  the  scribes,  doctors  of  the 
law,  and  Pharisees,  shows  that  he  and  they  had  not  the  least  com- 
mon sympathy.  He  loathed  them,  as  the  Hebrew  word  implies ; 
he  lost  all  confidence  in  their  moral  integrity  and  even  honesty ; 
and  on  the  other  hand,  their  soul  rebelled  against  him  because  of 
the  purity  of  his  character,  and  the  fidelity  and  pungency  of  his 
rebukes  of  their  sin. 

9.  Then  said  I,  I  will  not  feed  yon :  that  that  dieth, 
let  it  die  ;  and  that  that  is  to  be  cut  off,  let  it  be  cnt  off ; 
and  let  the  rest  eat,  every  one  the  flesh  of  another. 

The  Messiah  abandons  the  flock,  the  Jewish  people,  to  the 
sweep  of  terrible  judgments.  "  I  will  be  your  shepherd  no  longer." 
A  threefold  judgment  shall  be  your  extermination  ; — pestilence;  the 
sword  from  without;  the  sword  from  within  ; — tbe  two  last  look- 
ing toward  (1.)  the  lloman  arms ;  (2.)  those  horrible  conflicts  of 
hostile  parties  which  made  the  very  strength  of  the  nation  its  essen- 
tial weakness  and  ruin. Let  the  pestilence  sweep  away  whom 

it  will ;  let  the  Eoman  sword  drink  the  blood  of  the  victims  so 
doomed  by  the  will  of  the  Most  High  ;  let  every  man's  teeth  be 

sharpened  to  devour  his  neighbor's  flesh! The  reality  set  forth 

in  this  prophetic  language  was  fearfully  terrific!  They  had  said — 
''His  blood  be  on  us  and  on  our  children  !  "  The  Lord  responded, 
''  So  let  it  be !  "  Here  is  the  prediction.  History  verities  it  to  the  letter ! 

10.  And  I  took  my  staff,  even  Beauty,  and  cnt  it 
asunder,  that  I  might  break  my  covenant  which  I  had 
made  with  all  the  people. 

The  first  crook,  now  broken,  represented  the  sundering  of  the 
covenant  which  God  is  supposed  to  have  made  with  foreign  nations 
.(the  sense  of  "  all  the  people  "),  to  restrain  them  from  harming  his 
chosen.  This  covenant  lay  in  the  divine  mind — his  purpose  to 
restrain  heathen  nations  from  making  war  on  his  people.  See  the 
same  sense  in  Hos.  2  :  18 :  "In  that  day  I  will  make  a  covenant  for 
them  with  the  beasts  of  the  field,"  &c.  Compare  Job.  5 :  23  and 
Ezek.  34 :  25. 

11.  And  it  was  broken  in  that  day  :  and  so  the  poor 
of  the  flock  that  waited  upon  me  knew  that  it  was  the 
word  of  the  Lord. 

The  staff  once  broken,  the  Eoman  arms  came  down  upon  the 
land.     "Then  the  poor  of  the  9ock" — Christ's  disciples— having 


ZECHARIAH.— CHAI\  XI.  351 

been  apprised  by  him  (Matt.  24 :  15-21),  knew  tlvattlie  hour  of  judg- 
ment for  the  land  had  come,  and  fled  for  safety  to  the  mountains  of 
Pella,  on  the  east  of  Jordan.  History  records  the  remarkable  fact 
that  not  one  Christian  Jew  fell  in  that  awful  carnage.  All  who  had 
faith  in  their  divine  Lord  gave  heed  to  his  warnings.  The  Lord  by 
his  special  providence  gave  them  ample  time  to  make  good  their 
escape  before  the  city  was  invested  by  the  Roman  legions.  They 
fled  to  Pella  in  the  mountains  east  of  the  Jordan,  and  were  all 
safe. 

12.  And  I  said  unto  them,  If  ye  think  good,  give  me 
inj  price ;  and  if  not,  forbear.  So  they  weighed  for  my 
price  thirty  pieces  of  silver. 

13.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  me,  Cast  it  unto  the  pot- 
ter :  a  goodly  price  that  I  was  prized  at  of  them.  And 
I  took  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  and  cast  them  to  the 
potter  in  the  house  of  the  Lord. 

The  great  shepherd,  about  to  close  his  services,  proposes  in  the 
business  settlement  that  they,  the  Jews,  should  give  him  the  wages 
due.  It  is  not  implied  by  the  original  words  that  he  fixed  the  price 
himself.  "  Give  me  my  price,"  should  rather  read,  "  Give  me  my 
hire  or  reward.'1     He  manifestly  left  it  with  them  to  fix  the  price. 

He  only  said,  Give  me  what  wages  you  please,  and  let  me  go. 

They  weighed  out  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  the  very  price  for  which 
Judas  betrayed  him,  and  the  usual  price  for  a  slave.  (See  Ex.  21 :  32.) 
Maimonides,  one  of  the  most  reliable  ancient  Jewish  authors,  speaks 
of  this  as  the  price  of  a  slave's  services,  but  contemptible  for  a  free 
man's.  The  meagreness  of  it  indicates  how  low  they  estimated  his 
services.     Precisely  this  is  the  intended  showing  of  the  transaction. 

"A  goodly  price,"  &c,  is  ironical,  and  shows  how  keenly  the 

insult  was  felt.     It  has,  moreover,  a  prophetic  outlook  toward  the 

very  deed  of  Judas. The  Lord  said,  "Cast  it  to  the  potter."  He 

did  so.  This,  too,  was  one  of  the  points  of  remarkable  coincidence 
between  this  symbolic  prophecy  and  one  of  the  prominent  scenes 

in  the  betrayal  of  his  Lord  by  Judas. It  should  be  noted  that 

Matthew,  having  stated  that  Judas,  filled  with  remorse,  returned 
the  price  of  blood  (27:  3-10),  says  that  the  chief  priests  "bought 
therewith  the  potter's  field  to  bury  strangers  in,"  which  thenceforth 
bore  the  name  of  "  the  field  of  blood,"  and  that  "then  was  fulfilled 
that  which  was  spoken  by  Jeremy  tlie  2Jrop7ict,  saying,  And  they 
took  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  the  price  of  him  that  was  valued, 
whom  they  of  the  children  of  Israel  did  value  ;  and  gave  them  for 

the  potter's  field  as  the  Lord  appointed  me." These  words  are  not 

found  in  the  Book  of  Jeremiah,  but  the  general  sense  and  nearly  the 
same  words  occur  in  this  passage  of  Zechariah.  How  came  it  to  pass 

that  Matthew  named  Jeremiah  instead  of  Zechariah  ? It  should  be 

considered  that  Zechariah's  words,  "the  potter,"  &c,  connect  his 
prophecy  closely  with  Jeremiah,  chaps.  18  and  19.     "The  potter" 


352  ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  XL 

of  Jeremiah  worked  down  in  the  valley  of  the  son  of  Hinnoin,  as 
the  expressions  "  go  down  "  and  "  went  down  "  (Jer.  18 :  2,  3)  ren- 
der probable,  and  as  the  passage  (19  :  2)  proves,  for  here  the  "east 
gate"  is  (in  Heb.)  "the  entrance  to  the  potter's  gate."  There 
Jeremiah  was  to  denounce  upon  the  people  most  solemn  threaten- 
ings  from  the  Lord,  and  then  break  a  potter's  vessel  before  them. 
The  place,  already  made  abominable ;  the  breaking  of  the  vessel,  sig- 
nificant of  a  doom  for  which  there  can  be  no  remedy  ;  and  the  fear- 
ful solemnity  of  the  message— all  conspired  to  make  the  associations 
connected  with  this  potter's  house  specially  solemn  and  portentous. 
These  things  need  to  be  understood  in  order  to  get  the  full  sense  of 
this  passage  in  Zechariah.  It  may  be  supposed  that  Matthew  had 
before  his  mind  the  full  account  of  Jeremiah  as  well  as  the  more 
brief  one  of  Zechariah,  and  quoting  from  memory,  assigned  to  the 
former  what  is  found  as  to  its  precise  words  most  nearly  in  the 
latter. It  is  by  no  means  necessary  to  the  reliability  of  the  Scrip- 
tures that  we  prove  them  perfectly  accurate  in  all  the  minutest 
literary  points.  Let  it  suffice  that  every  thing  vital  is  right  and 
true,  and  that  every  doctrine  of  £fhy  importance  is  revealed  without 
the  least  admixture  of  error. 

14.  Then  I  cut  asunder  mine  other  staff,  even  Bands 
that  I  might  break  the  brotherhood  between  Judah 
and  Israel. 

The  phrase  "  the  brotherhood  between  Judah  and  Israel  "  is  an 
historic  allusion  to  the  case  of  the  two  nations  after  the  revolt  under 
Jeroboam.  Under  their  mutual  relations,  brotherhood  was  peace  ; 
brotherhood  broken  was  civil  war.  Hence  the  breaking  of  this  sec- 
ond staff  or  crook  symbolized  the  withdrawal  of  those  providential 
agencies  which  had  kept  the  people  together  in  friendly  relations 
with  each  other.  Those  agencies  being  withdrawn,  intestine  discord 
at  once  broke  out,  hostile  parties  arose,  and  civil  war  became  their 
most  fearful  curse.  The  history  of  the  period,  commencing  shortly 
before  the  invasion  by  the  Romans,  and  continuing  till  the  city  lay 
in  ruins,  is  a  mournful  confirmation  .of  this  symbolic  prophecy. 

15.  And  the  Loud  said  unto  me,  Take  unto  thee  yet 
the  instruments  of  a  foolish  shepherd. 

16.  For  lo,  I  will  raise  up  a  shepherd  in  the  laud, 
which  shall  not  visit  those  that  be  cut  off,  neither  shall 
seek  the  young,  one,  nor  heal  that  that  is  broken,  nor 
feed  that  that  standeth  still :  but  he  shall  eat  the  flesh  of 
the  fat,  and  tear  their  claws  in  pieces. 

IT.  Wo  to  the  idol  shepherd  that  leaveth  the  nock  ! 
the  sword  shall  he  upon  his  arm,  and  upon  his  right 
eye :  his  arm  shall  be-clean  dried  up,  and  his  right  eye 
shall  be  utterly  darkened. 


zeciiariah.— ciiap.  xi.  353 

This  passage  seems  to  prove  conclusively  that  the  person  who 
is  commanded  here  (v.  15)  to  "  take  the  instruments  of  a  foolish 
shepherd,"  and  who  was  ordered  (vs.  4-14)  to  "  feed  the  flock  of 
slaughter,"  can  he  no  other  than  the  prophet  himself;  yet  not 
acting  in  his  own  person,  or  rather  not  prefiguring  aught  concern- 
ing himself;  but  in  vs.  4-14  personating  the  Messiah  during  his 
public  ministry;  and  here  (vs.  15-17)  personating  those  priests, 
scribes,  and  civil  magistrates  whom  the  good  shepherd  cut  off  "  in 
one  month  "  (v.  8).     The  object  here  is  to  give  a  more  full  view  of 

the  character,  life,  and  doom  of* those  faithless  shepherds. The 

passage  is  very  brief;  hence  we  are  not  told  precisely  what  the 
"  instruments  of  a  foolish  shepherd  "  are.  They  were  not  the  two 
crooks,  Grace  and  Bands,  as  in  the  former  case ;  the  savage  scalpel 

and  butcher-knife  would  be  more  appropriate. "Lo,  I  will  raise 

up  a  shepherd  in  the  land,"  &C,  reminds  us  that  God  is  said  to  do 
what  he  providentially  permits  to  be  done.  As  a  judgment  on  those 
utterly  corrupt  Jews,  the  Lord  gave  them  shepherds  of  like  moral 

corruption. That  the  prophet  should  say  "a  shepherd,"  as  if  but 

one,  when  the  sense  is  a  whole  class,  an  entire  body  of  professedly 
religious  teachers,  is  in  accordance  with  his  usage,  as  we  have  seen 

in  the  notes  on  v.  8. The  things  which  this  bad  shepherd  will 

not  do  come  first  in  order;  "  he  will  not  visit  the  perishing ;  will 
not  seek  after  the  outcasts ;  will  not  heal  the  bruised ;  will  not 
nourish  the  halting,"  who  can  scarcely  walk,  i.  e.,  he  neglects  pre- 
cisely the  very  things  which  a  good   shepherd  should  by  all  means 

do. On  the  other  hand,  with  supreme  selfishness,  he  gets  all  the 

good  he  can  for  himself.  He  eats  the  flesh  of  the  fat  ones,  and 
even  tears  in  pieces  their  hoofs,  so  eager  is  he  to  get  the  last  thing 

of  any  value  from  the  carcass. In  the  clause  "  Woe  to  the  idol 

shepherd,"  the  Hebrew  word  rendered  "idol"  admits  this  sense, 
but  does  not  require  it,  and  therefore  should  not  have  it  here, 
there  being  no  allusion  in  the  case  to  idolatry,  and  the  more  general 
sense  of  useless,  icorthless,  faithless,  being  in  point,  and  fully  jus- 
tified by  usage. The  judgments  on  this  worthless  and  wicked 

shepherd  fall  on  those  bodily  organs  most  useful  to  the  shepherd — 
the  arm  and  the  eye.  The  sense  is,  that  God  will  utterly  paralyze 
his  power  for  such  services,  and  will  moreover  send  his  judgments 
so  in  the  line  of  his  sins,  that  they  will  be  a  perpetual  index  and 
remembrancer  of  that  for  which  he  suffers.  As  the  shepherd  would 
not  use  his  arm  and  his  eye  in  the  care  of  his  flock,  the  Lord 
withers  them  utterly  and  forever.  "To  him  that  knoweth  to  do 
good,  and  doeth  it  not,  to  him  it  is  sin  "  (Jam.  4 :  17).  "Wasted  talents, 
powers  for  good  unused,  bring  down  from  God  the  most  terrible 
retribution. 


354  ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  XII. 


CHAPTEPv   XII. 

This  chapter  manifestly  opens  a  new  subject.  The  first  leading 
inquiry  should  respect  its  general  scope  and  spirit,  and  the  period 

of  time  to  which  it  relates. In   chapter  11,  the  Jews  of  our 

Saviour's  time  reject  him,  their  offered  Messiah,  and  bring  upon 
their  city  and  nation  an  avalanche  of  ruin.  Now  the  question  may 
be  supposed  to    arise,   Is  the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah  therefore 

utterly  broken  down? To  this  inquiry,  chapters  12  and  13  reply 

— By  no  means.  The  Lord  has  yet  a  "  Judah,"  and  a  "  Jerusalem," 
and  a  "House  of  David:  "  he  will  redeem  them  from  their  external 
enemies  (see  12  :  2-9)  ;  and  what  is  yet  more  to  the  purpose,  he  will 
pour  upon  them  a  spirit  of  grace,  supplication,  and  penitence,  which 
shall  make  them  in  a  far  higher  and  nobler  sense  his  people,  and 
shall  insure  their  glorious  prosperity  as  his  people  and  kingdom. 
The  exposition  of  this  portion  of  Zechariah  involves  the  inves- 
tigation and  proof  of  several  points : 

I.  The  scenes  here  predicted  lie  onward  in  the  Christian  age  sub- 
sequent to  those 'predicted  in  chapter  11. 

(1.)  Because,  in  the  absence  of  x>roof  to  the  contrary,  it  should 
be  assumed  that  our  author  advances  in  time.  He  has  been  thus 
advancing  in  his  course  of  thought  throughout  chaps.  9,  10,  and 

11.  Why  not  also  yet  further  in  chapter  12  ? (2.)  Because  there  is 

manifestly  a  close  analogy  between  the  order  of  subjects  in  the  first 
six  chapters  (made  up  of  a  series  of  visions)  on  the  one  hand,  and 
chaps,  f-14  (not  such  visions)  on  the  other.  As  chaps.  1-4  promise 
good  to  Zion,  so  do  chaps.  7-10.  As  chap.  5,  on  the  other  hand,  pre- 
dicts the  sin  and  doom  of  the  guilty,  so  does  chap.  11 ;  and  then 
as  chap.  6 : 1-8  returns  again  to  God's  loving  care  and  protection  of 
his  people,  and  specifically  as  manifested  against  hostile  nations,  so 
does  this  chap.  12,  and  also  chap.  14.  As  the  last  part  of  chap.  0 
is  eminently  Messianic,  predicting  also  the  ultimate  reception  of  the 
nations  into  his  kingdom,  so  we  find  the  same  idea  in  these  chapters 

12-14,  and  especially  in  chap.  14. (3.)   Because  manifestly  Ave 

are  in  this  chapter  borne  on  beyond  the  date  of  chap.  9,  for  there 
the  Lord  was  protecting  his  people  against  Alexander  and  his 
Syrian  successors;  here  against  "all  nations"  (vs.  2,  3,9);  and, 
moreover,  here  we  have  passed  the  crucifixion  of  Christ  (which  is 
essentially  involved  in  chap.  11),  for  the  people  bewail  their  guilt  in 

that  act  (see  v.  10). The  location  of  these  events  in  time  must 

therefore  be  onward,  after  the  advent  of  Messiah.  So  much  may 
be  considered  as  fixed.     But  other  questions  remain. 

II.  It  is  a  question  of  no  trilling  importance  whether  the  terms 
"Israel,"  "Judah,"  "Jerusalem,"  "the  house  of  David,"  are  to  be 
taken  here  literally  or  figuratively.  Is  "  Judah  "  in  these  chapters 
(12-14)  the  very  Judah  of  Zechariah's  time  ;  are  her  people  the  lineal 
descendants  of  Abraham ;  and  does  the  lineal  Jew  here,  as  then  and 
there,  represent  and  embody  the  earthly  kingdom  of   God?     Is 


ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  XII.  355 

Jerusalem  still,  as  of  old,  her  capital,  and  the  centre  and  throne  of 
Messiah's  kingdom?  Do  the  Gentile  hosts  besiege  her  literally, 
as  the  Chaldeans  had  done  so  recently  when  Zechariah  was  writ- 
ing ? 1  cannot  think  so,  for  these  reasons  :  (1.)  With  the  events 

predicted  (chap.  11),  the  literal  Judah  and  Jerusalem  ceased  to  be 
the  recognized  visible  Church  and  kingdom  of  God  on  earth.  It  is 
the  precise  purpose  of  chap.  11  to  affirm  this  fact.  Consequently, 
ever  since  the  apostolic  age,  Church  history  has  taken  on  a  new  type. 
No  Church  historian  thinks  of  looking  for  the  Christian  Church  in 

the    Jewish  line. (2.)  "Whatever  Old  Testament    prophecy  is 

clearly  shown  to  refer  to  the  New  Testament  age  must,  by  all 
legitimate  rules  of  interpretation,  be  construed  in  accordance  with 
New  Testament  light,  with  gospel  ideas,  with  the  new  principles  of 
Messiah's  kingdom,  then  first  fully  brought  out.  Hence  the  Judah 
and  Jerusalem  of  gospel  prophecy,  standing  as  types  and  symbols 
of  Messiah's  kingdom,  must  be  construed,  not  literally,  but  figura- 
tively— just  as  "the  temple"  is  no  longer,  as  of  old,  the  one  place 
of  God's  dwelling,  and  of  all  acceptable  worship,  but  the  Christian 
"  temple  "  is  the  living  pious  heart. (3.)  That  the  Jews  shall  re- 
turn again — not  to  their  own  land  merely,  but  to  Judaism  restored 
after  the  order  of  Moses ;  that  Jerusalem  shall  again  become  the 
Jiving  centre  of  all  visible  worship,  and  of  all  the  true  religion  of  the 
world — this  worship  conforming  itself,  as  of  old,  to  the  Mosaic 
ritual ;  and  that,  as  such,  Judah  shall  be  invaded  and  Jerusalem 
besieged  by  all  the  Gentile  nations  of  the  earth,  according  to  the 
literal  construction  of  chapters  12  and  14,  are  not  things  even  sup- 
posable.  If  the  New  Testament  is  held  to  be  of  any  account,  Juda- 
ism, after  the  order  of  Moses,  is  dead,  and  those  ideas  must  hence 
be  rejected.  For,  practically,  that  state  of  things  must  ignore  all  the 
Christianity  of  the  Gentile  world — all  the  actual  Christianity  of  the 
whole  world  as  it  now  is,  and  as  it  has  been  since  the  death  of 
Christ.  Can  any  sane  man  believe  that  all  the  Gentile  Christian 
churches  are  at  some  future  period  to  be  annihilated  ;  the  religious 
world  be  put  back  to  its  condition  and  relations  as  in  the  age  of  Zech- 
ariah ;  bloody  sacrifices  and  passovers  and  feasts  of  tabernacles  be 
restored,  and  Judah  and  Jerusalem  stand  as  the  sole  representatives 
of  the  Church  of  God  upon  the  earth  ?  Or  can  it  be  believed  that 
all  the  great  nations  of  the  present  or  of  any  future  age  shall  gather 
in  one  vast  crusade  against  the  converted  Christian  Jews  in  their 
own  land  to  besiege  Jerusalem,  and  to  exterminate  all  true  religion 

from  the  face  of  the  earth  ? The  literal  construction  of  chapters 

12-14  would  hold  us  to  such  results:  therefore  the  literal  construc- 
tion must  be  promptly  rejected. (4.)  Nor  let  it  be  thought  that 

we  do  violence  to  the  laws  of  language  when  we  reject  the  literal 
and  adopt  the  figurative  sense  under  such  circumstances  as  these. 
Let  the  reader  ask  himself — How  should  a  Jewish  prophet,  writing 
in  the  midst  of  Judaism,  with  no  other  history  of  the  Church  before 
him,  and  no  other  conception  of  the  Church  in  his  mind  but  that  of 
Judaism,  with  no  other  first  readers  but  Jews,  write  of  the  future 


356  ZECHARIAR— CHAP.  XII. 

Church  and  kingdom  of  God  in  the  gospel  age?  Shall  we  demand 
that  he  write  of  the  Christian  Church  and  of  millennial  times  in  New 
Testament  words  and  "phrases,  and  with  fully-developed  New  Tes- 
tament ideas?  Let  us  remember  that  the  time  had  not  come  for 
such  ideas.  Let  us  recall  the  striking  fact  that  more  than  three 
years'  personal  communion  with  Jesus  himself,  and  no  small 
amount  of  his  personal  labor,  quite  failed  to  convert  his  disciples  from 
Jewish  to  Christian  ideas ;  that  only  the  shock  given  to  the  old 
system  by  his  death,  aided  by  the  subsequent  teaching  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  availed,  and  then  rather  slowly,  to  effect  this  great  change. 
How  absurd,  then,  to  expect  that  the  Hebrew  prophets  and  their 
first  readers  could  readily  reach  those  new  ideas  and  take  in  the 

sense  of  Christian   as  contrasted   with  Jewish  phraseology! 

Plainly,  those  Jewish  prophets  and  their  first  readers  must  think  of 
Christianity  only  as  of  Judaism  extended  and  purified ;  must  con- 
ceive of  a  world  converted  only  as  a  world  coming  up  to  Jerusalem 
to  worship ;  and  must  conceive  of  irreligion,  infidelity,  every  form 
of  hostility  to  Christ,  as  the  gathering  of  nations  for  war  against 

Jerusalem  and  Judah,  to  crush  them  from  the  face  of  the  earth. 

Hence  when  we  speak  of  Jewish  costume  and  drapery  as  clothing 
gospel  ideas  in  these  sublimely  grand  and  glorious  prophecies,  we 
are  not  parting  company  with  common  sense.  We  are  simply  in- 
terpreting in  harmony  with  the  stern  necessities  of  their  condition. 
Jewish  minds,  with  no  other  than  Jewish  training,  must  think  so 
and  speak  so,  by  the  inevitable  laws  of  human  thought. 

III.  Consequently,  it  is  no  longer  a  question  whether,  in 
these  remaining  prophecies  of  Zechariah  (chap.  12-14),  we  are 
to  find  blessings  for  the  Gentile  world;  even  the  extension  of 
the  gospel  to  all  the  nations  of  the  earth.  If  these  prophecies 
relate  to  times  subsequent  to  the  death  of  Christ,  they  must 
predict  the  prosperity  of  the  Christian  Church,  the  conversion 
of  the  world  to  Immanuel. It  might  be  a  much  more  diffi- 
cult question  (were  it  needful  to  be  settled)  whether  the  lineal 
Jew  is  here,  and  if  so,  where  and  by  what  marks  we  shall  identify 
him.  If  he  were  named  here  alongside  of  his  brother  Gentile,  as 
Paul  names  them  in  Rom.  11,  it  would  be  easy  to  make  this  dis- 
crimination. But  it  is  at  least  supposable  that  in  the  greater  part 
of  these  three  chapters  there  is  no  intention  to  discriminate  between 
Jew  and  Gentile.  If  so,  how  can  it  be  expected  that  a  discreet  in- 
terpreter should  make  any  distinction  ?  Interpreters  should  not  be 
asked  to  make  prophecy,  nor  to  put  into  it  what  was  not  there  be- 
fore ;  but  only  to  unfold  the  sense  already  there. It  may  be  well 

to  remember  also  that  the  change  wrought  in  the  transition  from 
Judaism  to  Christianity,  fitly  described  as  a  "  breaking  down  of  the 
middle  wall  of  partition  between  us  "  (Eph.  2  :  14),  aimed  not  to 
thrust  the  Jew  out,  but  to  let  the  Gentile  in ;  to  abolish  henceforth 
all  distinction  as  to  Christian  rights  and  privileges,  and  make  both 
one  henceforth  in  Christ  Jesus.  Why,  then,  may  not  Old  Testa- 
ment prophecy  assume  precisely  this  state  of  the  future  kingdom 


ZECHAEIAH.— CHAP.  XII.  357 

of  the  Messiah  ? The  thoughtful  reader  can  scarcely  fail  to  ap- 
preciate the  importance  of  these  points,  and  if  sof  will  not  account 
this  discussion  unreasonably  full  or  protracted. 

jOhapter  12  is  naturally  in  two  parts,  of  which  the  first  (vs.  1-9) 
represents  Judah  as  invaded  and  Jerusalem  as  besieged  by  the 
combined  powers  of  all  nations  ;  but  the  Lord  delivers  them.  The 
second  part  (vs.  10-14)  represents  the  house  of  David  and  the  peo- 
ple of  Jerusalem  as  deeply  penitent  for  their  sins,  especially  the  sin 

of  crucifying  their  Messiah. In  my  comments  on  this  chapter,  I 

propose  first  to  explain  the  words  and  phrases  so  far  as  may  seem 
necessary,  and  then  to  speak  of  its  general  scope  and  fulfilment  as 
prophecy. 

1.  The  burden  of  the  word  of  the  Loed  for  Israel, 
saith  the  Loed,  which  streteheth  forth  the  heavens,  and 
layeth  the  foundation  of  the  earth,  and  formeth  the 
spirit  of  man  within  him. 

This  prophecy  is  a  "  "burden  upon  Israel "  only  to  a  limited  ex- 
tent, for  the  assault  of  all  nations  upon  her  and  the  siege  of  Jerusa- 
lem were  transient,  ending  soon  in  complete  victory  on  Zion's  side. 

That  help  comes  from  the  Lord  alone,  who  is  mighty  to  save, 

is  indicated  by  the  allusion  to  his  great  and  glorious  works  of  creation. 

2.  Behold,  I  will  make  Jerusalem  a  cup  of  trembling 
unto  all  the  people  round  about,  when  they  shall  be  in 
the  siege  both  against  Judah  and  against  Jerusalem.- 

The  phrase  rendered  "cup  of  trembling"  is  read  by  some, 
"threshold  of  shaking" — one  upon  which  a  violent  assault  should 
be  made,  but  which  should  react  in  ruin  upon  the  assailants.  There 
seems,  however,  to  be  no  good  reason  for  rejecting  the  usual  sense 
of  the  words  "a  cup  of  reeling,  intoxication" — with  reference  to 
that  very  common  conception  of  the  wine-cup  of  the  wrath  of  the 
Lord  which  maddens  and  infatuates  nations  doomed  to  ruin.     (See 

Jer.  25  :  15-31,  and  notes  on  Nahum  1 :  10). All  the  nations  are 

thought  of  as  gathered  against  Judah  and  Jerusalem.  In  the  last 
clause  the  sense  is,  that  what  the  Lord  had  said  of  Jerusalem  should 
be  true  of  Judah  also  in  the  siege  of  her  capital. 

3.  And  in  that  day  will  I  make  Jerusalem  a  burden- 
some stone  for  all  people :  all  that  burden  themselves 
with  it  shall  be  cut  in  pieces,  though  all  the  people  of 
the  earth  be  gathered  together  against  it. 

The  reference  to  a  burdensome  stone  alludes  to  a  custom 
among  the  Jewish  young  men  of  trying  their  strength  at  lifting 
a  very  heavy  stone  as  high  as  possible,  in  which  some  were  wont 
to  get  wounds  and  bruises.  Such  a  stone,  fully  equal  to  one's  ut- 
most strength,  and  often  beyond  it,  should  Jerusalem  be  to  the  na- 


358  ZECHAEIAH.— CHAP.  XII. 

tions.  The  stone  itself  is  not  harmed  by  the  lifting,  but  the  lifters 
thereof  were  sure  to  be  lacerated. 

4.  Iii  that  clay,  saitli  the  Lord,  I  will  smite  every 
horse  with  astonishment,  and  his  rider  with  madness : 
and  I  will  open  mine  eyes  upon  the  house  of  Judah, 
and  will  smite  every  horse  of  the  people  with  blindness. 

Keniarkably,  the  Lord  accounts  horses  to  be  a  power  hostile  to 
Christ's  kingdom.  This  appears  throughout  Zechariah,  and  aids 
us  to  the  true  conception  of  Messiah's  riding  on  an  ass  (9  :  9).  The 
warring  enemies  of  God's  people  come  on  horses,  this  animal  being 

associated  with  human  pride  and  rebellion  against  God. This 

astonishment  and  madness  are  among  the  effects  of  the  cup  of  in- 
toxication, given  to  God's  enemies  to  drink. ISTote  the  beautiful 

antithesis.  God  smites  with  blindness  the  warring  powers  of  his 
foes,  but  opens  his  own  eyes  wide  on  his  people  to  see  then*  wants 
and  to  provide  therefor. 

5.  And  the  governors  of  Judah  shall  say  in  their 
heart,  The  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  shall  he  my  strength 
in  the  Loud  of  hosts  their  God. 

6.  In  that  day  will  I  make  the  governors  of  Judah 
like  a  hearth  of  fire  among  the  wood,  and  like  a  torch 
of  fire  in  a  sheaf ;  and  they  shall  devour  all  the  people 
round  about,  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left :  and  Je- 
rusalem shall  be  inhabited  again  in  her  own  place,  even 
in  Jerusalem. 

7.  The  Loud  also  shall  save  the  tents  of  Judah  first, 
that  the  glory  of  the  house  of  David  and  the  glory  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  do  not  magnify  themselves 
against  Judah. 

Without  saying  it  openly,  yet  in  their  secret  thought,  the  gov- 
ernors of  Judah  are  relying  for  their  own  protection  under  God  on 
the  military  strength  of  Jerusalem  and  the  valor  of  her  defenders. 
But  the  Lord  will  make  Judah  safe  and  mighty  against  her  foreign 
foes,  as  a  hearth  of  fire  to  its  fuel,  which  itself  burns  not,  but  only 
facilitates  the  burning  of  the  wood,  or  as  a  torch  of  fire  to  a  sheaf, 
which  consumes  it  with  no  danger  to  itself.     So  shall  they  devour 

the  gathered  nations  who  assail  them. And  "Jerusalem,  too,  shall 

still  sit  on  her  throne  in  her  own  place,"  on  her  own  foundations. 
The  Lord  saves  Judah  first,  that  he  may  forestall  the  pride  of  self- 
reliance  on  the  strength  and  glory  of  the  city.  So  vital  to  true  re- 
ligion is  it  to  crucify  all  human  glorying,  to  cherish  the  spirit  of 
absolute  dependence  on  the  Lord  alone,  and  to  give  him  for  ever- 
more all  the  glory  as  the  source  of  all  spiritual  life  and  of  all  power 
for  good  to  Zion. 


ZECHAMAH.— CHAP.  XII.  359 

8.  In  that  day  shall  the  Lord  defend  the  inhabitants 
of  Jerusalem  ;  and  he  that  is  feeble  among  them  at  that 
day  shall  be  as  David  ;  and  the  house  of  David  shall  oe 
as  God,  as  the  angel  of  the  Lord  before  them. 

The  Lord  defends  Jerusalem,  yet  not  without  their  own  concur- 
rent agency.  The  doctrine  that  God  saves  his  people  must  net  be 
abused  to  human  inaction.  He  saves  rather  by  augmenting  and 
reanimating  their  strength  than  by  superseding  their  agency.  So 
here,  the  feeble  shall  be  as  David,  who  is  the  type  of  a  most  ath- 
letic warrior  ;  and  the  men  of  David's  cast  and  power  shall  be  now 
as  God,  even  as  the  angel  of  Jehovah — the  uncreated  one  who  had 
so  often  appeared  in  forms  of  majesty  and  power.  This  is  a  strong 
figure,  and  must  represent  a  vast  augmentation  of  spiritual  force  in 
the  people  of  God. 

9.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  I  will 
seek  to  destroy  all  the  nations  that  come  against  Jerusa- 
lem. 

Now  the  Lord  sets  himself  earnestly  to  destroy  all  the  nations 
that  array  themselves  in  hostile  mood  against  his  people  and  their 
sacred  city. 

10.  And  I  will  pour  upon  the  house  of  David,  and 
upon  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  the  spirit  of  grace 
and  of  supplications :  and  they  shall  look  upon  me 
whom  they  have  pierced,  and  they  shall  mourn  for  him, 
as  one  mourneth  for  his  only  son,  and  shall  be  in  bitter- 
ness for  him,  as  one  that  is  in  bitterness  for  his  first-born. 

These  terms  are  strongly  in  contrast  with  those  in  v.  9.  God 
will  seek  to  pour  out  vengeance  and  ruin  on  those  hostile  nations; 

but  grace,  mercy,  and  blessings  on  Jerusalem. To  "  pour  out  "  is 

to  bestow  in  large  and  abundant  measure.  It  is  the  usual  phrase 
for  the  effusions  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  in  Joel  2  :  28 — "  I  will  pour  out 

my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh." In  this  passage,  "  the  Spirit  "  is  the 

Holy  Spirit  of  God,  and  not  a  quality  or  grace  in  man.  It  is  thought 
of,  however,  as  producing  piety  and  prayer  in  the  hearts  of  men, 
and  hence  is  called  "  the  Spirit  of  grace  and  of  supplications  " — 
meaning  that  Divine  Spirit,  whose  special  work  it  is  to  beget  as  to 
one's  self  a  tender  prayerful  frame  of  mind,  and  as  to  others  a  lov- 
ing compassion  for  the  souls  of  men,  and  earnest  prayer  for  their 
salvation.  "Grace"  in  man  stands  for  that  which  is  specially 
pleasing  to  God,  and  which  secures  his  favor.  In  the  case  of  sin- 
ners, the  first  buddings  of  grace  are  penitence  and  prayer,  a  broken 
and  contrite  spirit,  which  inspires  prayer  both  for  our  own  pardon 
and  for  mercy  on  other  sinners  also.  The  close  connection  between 
the  gift  of  this  Spirit,  begetting  such  grace  and  supplications,  and 
the  "looking  upon  him  whom  they  have  pierced,"  shuts  us  up  to 


ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  -XII. 

this  sense  of  the  passage — its  leading  thought  being  the  conversion 

of  sinners. To  "look  on  me  whom  they  have  pierced  "  can  mean 

nothing  else  than  thinking  of  their  guilt  in  crucifying  the  Lord  of 
glory.  They  now  look  upon  the  crucified  One  with  bitter  peni- 
tence and  grief  for  the  sin  of  piercing  his  heart,  and  with  imploring 
cries  for  pardon  through  his  own  blood.  This  sin  of  piercing  the  Lord 
belongs  not  alone  to  that  Koman  soldier  who  drove  the  nails  into 
his  hands  and  his  feet,  nor  to  him  alone  whose  spear  opened  his 
side,  but  obviously  to  all  who  participated  then  and  there  iu  his 
death,  and  indeed  to  that  indefinitely  greater  mass  who  in  all  ages 
have  had  the  same  wicked  heart  as  they  had,  and  have  abused,  in- 
sulted, scorned,  and  rejected  Jesus  Christ  in  a  spirit  like  theirs. 
All  such  have  crucified  the  Son  of  God  afresh,  reenacting  the  very 

scenes  of  Calvary,  and  its  very  sins  too ! But  when,  touched  by 

the  Spirit  of  God,  they  look  on  the  crucified  One  as  pierced  by  their 
own  hands,  and  when  they  think  of  their  own  sins  as  the  nails  and 
the  spear  that  gave  him  his  bitterest  pangs,  and  then  take  also  into 
view  the  wonderful  truth  that,  despite  of  such  abuse  from  myself, 
that  murdered  Saviour  loves  me  in  his  pity  still,  and  offers  me  par- 
don as  it  were  through  the  blood  my  own  guilty  hands  have  shed, 
O  then  the  deep  fountains  of  my  grief  burst  open,  and  for  once,  if 
never  before,  it  is  a  luxury  to  weep.  Thousands  have  felt  this  bit- 
terness of  grief  for  their  sins  against  the  crucified  One,  made  doubly 
keen  by  the  sense  of  his  enduring  and  forgiving  love,  despite  of 

guilt  so  black  and  ingratitude  so  vile! Such  I  take  to  be-the 

thought  of  this  passage. This  mourning  for  sin  is  as  when  one 

mourns  over  an  only  son,  lost  in  death ;  its  bitterness  is  as  that 
over  a  first-born.  Ask  the  real  parent's  heart  for  the  depth  of  an- 
guish in  such  mourning ! 

11.  In  that  day  there  shall  be  a  great  mourning  in 
Jerusalem,  as  the  mourning  of  ITadadrimmon  in  the 
valley  of  Megidclon. 

12.  And  the  land  shall  mourn,  every  family  apart ; 
the  family  of  the  house  of  David  apart,  and  their  wives 
apart;  the  family  of  the  house  of  Nathan  apart,  and 
their  wives  apart ; 

13.  The  family  of  the  house  of  Levi  apart,  and  their 
wives  apart ;  the  family  of  Shimei  apart,  and  their  wives 
apart ; 

14.  All  the  families  that  remain,  every  family  apart, 
and  their  wives  apart. 

This  mourning  for  sin  against  the  slain  Messiah  is  not  restricted 
to  a  few,  but  is  widely  extended ;  it  is  "  a  great  mourning  in  Jeru- 
salem," like  that  over  the  death  of  the  good  King  Josiah,  who  fell 
in  battle  against  Necho,  king  of  Egypt,  in  the  valley  of  Megiddon, 
the  long-famed  battle-ground  of  Esdraelon.     See  the  history  in  2 


ZECIIARIAIL— CHAP.  XII.  3d 

Cliron.  35  :  23-25   and  2  Kings  23  :  20,  30. Note  here  that  this 

mourning  for  sin  is  not  merely  a  puhlic  thing :  public  mournings  are 
sometimes  a  pageant  only,  with  more  of  display  than  of  heartfelt  grief. 
This  is  so  much  a  personal  matter,  lying  between  each  individual 
soul  and  his  Saviour,  that  each  one  is  drawn  to  weep  and  mourn 
apart  and  alone.  Every  instinct  leads  the  mourner  to  seek 
solitude,  and  to  pour  out  his  whole  heart  there,  under  no  other 
eye  than  God's  !  Who  has  not  felt  this  impulse  toward  silent,  se- 
cret mourning,  under  such  mingled  shame  and  grief,  coupled  with 
the  conviction  that  your  whole  concern  is  now  with  that  crucified 
One  whose  heart  you  have  pierced,  and  whose  possible  mercy  is 

now  your  only  hope  ? The  mode  of  presenting  this  thought  is 

by  Jewish  terms  and  historic  allusions.  The  house  of  David  and 
the  house  of  Nathan,  one  of  his  sons,  in  the  royal  line ;  then  the 
house  of  Levi  and  the  house  of  Shimei,  one  of  his  sons,  represent- 
ing the  priesthood ; — these  stand  for  the  whole  people,  and  show 

that  they  all  mourn  apart,  and  their  wives  apart. The  first  verse 

of  the  next  chapter  belongs  with  this,  showing  that  such  penitence 
and  prayer  bring  pardon  full  and  free.  "  In  that  day  a  fountain  is 
opened  for  sin  and  for  uncleanness  "  "  to  the  house  of  David  and  to 
the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  " — the  same  on  whom  (12:10)  the 
spirit  of  grace  and  of  supplication  is  poured  out.  In  that  blood 
which  their  own  guilty  hands  have  shed,  is  pardon  found  for  all  the 
truly  penitent. 

That  this  chapter  must  relate  to  events  subsequent  to  the  death 
of  Christ — that  it  concerns  the  Christian  Church  and  the  gospel 
age,  and  therefore  must  be  interpreted  according  to  New  Testament 
ideas — has  been  already  said,  and  I  trust  adequately  shown.  It 
still  remains  to  inquire  whether  its  fulfilment  can  be  located  yet 
more  definitely,  and  if  so,  where ;  and  whether  now  past  or  yet 

future. It  maybe  proper  for  me  to  say  that  during  several  years 

past,  and  until  this  present  reinvestigation,  I  have  been  inclined  to 
locate  the  fulfilment  of  this  portion  of  Zechariah,  chapters  12-14, 
yet  in  the  future — near  or  in  the  millennial  age.  I  must  now  modify 
this  opinion  so  far  at  least  as  to  suggest  the  strong  probability  that 
this  chap.  12,  looks  primarily  to  a  series  of  events  that  occurred 
within  the  first  three  centuries  of  the  Christian  era.  My  reasons 
for  this  view  fall  under  two  different  heads :  (1).  The  consecu- 
tive order  of  Zechariah's  prophecies  throughout  chapters  9-11, 
which,  unless  some  reason  appear  to  the  contrary,  should  continue 
also  through  chap.  12.  Thus  in  chap.  9 : 1-8,  we  have  the  conquer- 
ing sweep  of  Alexander's  armies,  over  Persia,  Syria,  Tyre,  and 
Philistia,  while  God  protected  Judah — all  in  the  fourth  century 
before  Christ;  then,  in  9:11-17  and  10:1-5,  the  wars  of  the 
Syrians  in  the  age  of  the  Maccabees,  in  the  second  century  before 
Christ;  then  in  chap.  11,  the  very  events  of  Christ's  personal 
ministry,  his  being  rejected  by  the  Jews,  and  their  consequent 
destruction  by  the  Eomans — all  in  the  period  a.  d.  1-70.  This 
regular  order  of  time  suggests  with  very  considerable  force  whether 
16 


362  ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  XII. 

chap.  12  does  not  continue  on  with  no  great  chasm  into  the  Chris- 
tian age. (2.)  But  a  second  reason,  certainly  worth y  of  considera- 
tion, is  that,  adopting  the  principles  of  interpretation  already  pre- 
sented, we  find  great  events  to  which  these  prophetic  descriptions 
very  accurately  correspond.  Tims  in  12  : 1-9,  the  leading  idea  is 
that  of  persecution,  a  fierce  and  bloody  onslaught  upon  the  Church 
of  God.  A  Jewish  prophet  could  not  depict  an  era  of  persecution 
in  any  other  form  so  definite  and  decisive  as  this.  Judah  invaded, 
Jerusalem  besieged  and   assailed  by  heathen  nations;  this  in  the 

Christian  age  can  be  nothing  else  but  violent  persecution. And 

who  does  not  know  that  the  history  of  the  Church  during  the  first 
three  centuries  is  largely  the  history  of  persecutions  f  The  Church 
is  bitterly  and  cruelly  assailed;  but  she  is  like  "the  bush  that 
burned  with  fire,  yet  was  not  consumed,"  or  in  this  prophet's  own 
figures,  not  less  pertinent,  she  is  a  cup  of  reeling  to  all  that  besiege 
her;  a  burdensome  stone  they  cannot  lift,  however  much  they 
essay  it,  and  can  by  no  means  harm,  but  are  only  themselves 
harmed  thereby ;  or  yet  more  fitly,  she  is  a  hearth  of  fire,  and  her 
enemies  the  burning  fuel;    or  a  torch,  and  they  the  sheaf  that 

readily  takes  fire  and  is  consumed. So  the  Church  stood  the  shock 

of  persecution  unshaken ;  bore  its  fires  unscathed ;  became  only  the 
more  pure,  grew  only  with  the  more  rapid  growth  ;  while  on  her 
enemies  the  wrath  of  the  Lord  came  down  to  their  uttermost  destruc- 
tion.  Must  we  not  account  this  series  of  historic  events  as  fully 

answering  to  the  drift  of  these  prophetic  representations?  Taking 
this  natural  harmony  between  the  historic  facts  and  the  prophetic 
portrayals,  in  connection  with  the  probable  continued  consecution 
of  the  prophetic  steps  along  the  track  of  time,  is  there  not  at  least  a 
very  high  degree  of  probability  that  this  is  the  true  interpretation 
ofZech.  12:1-9? 

We  come  next  to  the  closing  portion  12  :  10-14  and  13  : 1.  Here 
it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  chap.  11  has  virtually  assumed  the 
rejection  of  Messiah  by  his  covenant  people  and  his  consequent 
crucifixion.  It  is  hence  but  fit  that  the  Lord,  through  his  prophet, 
should  meet  the  natural  inquiry —  What  icas  the  result  of  his  violent 
death?  Did  it  utterly  crush  the  young  germ  of  the  shoot  and 
scion  of  David?  Did  it  wither  the  hopes  of  the  world,  and  the 
raised  expectations  of  the  hierarchies  of  heaven  ?  Did  it  ring  the 
death-knell  of  Zion's  promised  future  glory  ? Not  at  all ;  noth- 
ing of  the  sort.  Indeed,  that  very  deatli  on  the  cross  unsealed 
the  fountains  of  spiritual  power ;  brought  down  the  glorious  efius- 
ions  of  the  Spirit  of  God ;  made  the  hearts  of  even  his  murderers 
like  water  in  the  tenderness  of  their  contrition  and  the  outflow  of 
their  sorrows,  and  drew  the  hearts  of  millions,  with  a  power  of  at- 
traction never  known  on  earth  before,  into  loving  gratitude  and  all- 
consuming  zeal  and  labor  for  the  risen  Redeemer  of  men.     Is  not 

such  the  plain  teaching  of  this  most  wonderful  passage? "We 

scarcely  need,  therefore,  to  ask  more  particularly  when  it  was  ful- 
filled.   Its  fulfilment  began,  we  may  say,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost 


ZECHAKIAIL— CHAP.  XIT.  363 

when  God  first  "  poured  out  the  Spirit  of  grace  and  of  supplica- 
tions," and  when  three  thousand  men  "were  pricked  in  their 
heart"  in  view  of  this  very  fact  that  they  had  taken  Him  of 
Nazareth,  and  by  wicked  hands  had  crucified  and  slain  him.  It3 
fulfilment  continued  on  through  that  glorious  age  of  gospel  tri- 
umphs. It  continues  still  wherever  the  sense  of  Christ  crucified 
goes  deep  to  the  heart,  and,  under  the  Spirit's  light,  men  feel  that 

they  have  themselves  been  his  betrayers  and  murderers. The 

fountain  opened  for  the  penitent  people  of  the  house  of  David  is 
only  the  great  fact  of  the  gospel  age,  the  way  of  pardon  revealed 
and  brought  out  fully  to  glorious  light  through  the  atonement  of 

the  crucified  Son  of  God. It  need  not  be  assumed  that  these 

prophecies  are  exhausted  in  those  events  to  which  they  primarily 
refer.  Their  truths  are  for  all  time,  and  their  fulfilment  in  this 
sense  cannot  bo  exhausted  until' the  gospel  shall  cease  to  be  "the 
power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth."  So  long, 
the  agencies  of  outward  violent  persecution  shall  never  crush  the 
true  Church,  but  only  serve  to  purify  her  the  more;  so  long,  a 
Saviour  crucified  shall  bo  the  power  of  God,  through  the  Holy 
Ghost,  unto  penitence,  and  prayer,  and  pardon,  and  anew  and  holy 
life  unto  God  and  the  Lamb. 

If  any  objection  can  be  plausibly  urged  against  the  explanation 
above  given  of  this  chapter  12,  as  already  fulfilled  prophecy,  it  will 
be  on  the  ground  that  vs.  10-14  are  thus  put,  in  time,  before  vs. 
1-9  ;  whereas,  according  to  their  order  of  sequence,  they  should  come 

after. My  answer  is  twofold :     (1.)  Claiming  a  large  abatement 

from  the  facts  as  stated  in  the  objection.  (2.)  Accounting  for  the 
relative  location  of  the  two  passages  on  other  grounds  than  the 

order  of  time. (1.)  The  objection  assumes  that  as  to  time,  the 

passage  (vs.  10-14)  looks  to  the  death  of  Christ  and  to  the  immediate 
effects  of  that  death  upon  its  authors. 1  answer :  Such  limita- 
tion as  to  its  effects  is  by  no  means  necessary  or  natural.  And  the 
moral  effects  of  that  death,  not  the  death  itself  as  an  historic  event, 
are  here  the  subject  of  remark.  These  moral  effects  are  thought 
of  as  characterizing  the  gospel  dispensation — specially  prominent 
indeed  in  its  opening  era,  but  characteristic  of  it  throughout.  V.  10 
is  not  connected  with  what  precedes  it  as  an  event  that  closely 
follows  in  time.  The  Hebrew  language  would  naturally  indicate 
such  a  connection  by  the  future  with  wo  conversive.  But  here  the 
connective  particle  might  as  well  be  rendered  "  out,"  indicating  an 

event  of  an  opposite  antithetic  character. And  the  thought  that 

follows  is  obviously  antithetic  to  what  precedes.  This  relation  of 
the  two  thoughts  determined  the  location  of  the  latter  passage.  I 
will  seek  to  pour  out  judgments  unto  their  destruction  on  the  na- 
tions that  come  against  Jerusalem ;  but  the  grace  of  my  Spirit  unto 
salvation  on  Jerusalem  herself.  This  is  manifestly  the  lav/  of 
thought  that  suggested  the  passage,  v.  10-14.  That  is,  vs.  1-9  give 
the  judgments  of  God  against  the  sworn,  violent  enemies  of  his 
Church;  vs.  10-14  the  blessings  that  come  through  the  death  of 
Christ,  and  the  mission  of  his  Spirit  upon  the  Church  and  people. 


3^4;  ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  XIII. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

The  first  verse,  as  already  intimated,  belongs  very  properly  to  the 
previous  chapter,  since  it  stands  in  the  closest  relations  of  thought 
with  the  penitence  of  the  people  for  their  sins  against  the^Lord 

jesus. The  next  point  made  is  the  purifying  of  the  people  from 

their  sins,  as  shown  by  specifying  two  most  besetting  sins  of  the 
ancient  Hebrews,  idolatry  and  false  prophesying,  both  of  which  are 
thoroughly  removed  from  the  land  (vs.  2-6).  Then,  by  association 
of  ideas,  the  crucified  Messiah  is  brought  to  view  (v.  Y) ;  finally,  the 
ungodly  portion  are  cut  off,  only  one-third  part  remaining,  but 
these  are  purified  by  stern  discipline,  and  come  to  know  Jehovah  as 
their  God  (vs.  8,  9). 

1.  Iii  that  clay  there  shall  be  a  fountain  opened  to 
the  honse  of  David  and  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem 
for  sin  and  for  uncleanness. 

2.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts,  that  I  will  cut  off  the  names  of  the  idols 
out  of  the  land,  and  they  shall  no  more  be  remembered : 
and  also  I  will  cause  the  prophets  and  the  unclean  spirit 
to  pass  out  of  the  land. 

The  manner  of  Zechariah  is  to  affirm  a  general  truth  by  affirm- 
ing certain  individual  facts  which  are  left  to  imply  it.  So  here,  to 
show  that  the  land  is  purified  from  its  great  sins,  he  makes  no  gen- 
eral statements,  but  simply  individualizes  two  of  the  prominent  and 
most  dangerous  sins  of  the  covenant  people — idolatry  and  false 

prophecy — and  represents  them  to  be  effectually  exterminated. 

"  Cutting  off  the  very  names  of  idols,  so  that  they  should  be  no 
more   remembered,"  implies   that   idolatry  is   thoroughly  expelled 

from  the  land.     (Sec  Hos.  2 :  17  and  14 :  8  and  Mic.  5  :  12-14.) 

The  "  prophets  "  named  here  in  connection  with  idols  before  and 
"  the  unclean  spirit "  after,  must  be  false  prophets,  called  prophets 
only  because  they  falsely  and  foully  assumed  this  name.  The  Lord 
will  drive  them  out  of  the  land,  forcibly  expel  them. The  refer- 
ence to  an  "  unclean  spirit  "  recognizes  Satanic  agency. 

3.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  when  any  shall  yet 
prophesy,  that  his  father  and  his  mother  that  begat  him 
shall  say  unto  him,  Thou  shalt  not  live  ;  for  thou  speak- 
cst  lies  in  the  name  of  the  Loud  :  and  his  lather  and  his 
mother  that  begat  him  thall  thrust  him  through  when  he 
prophesieth. 

A  supposed  case  is  made:  If  any  one  shall  yet  attempt  to  proph- 


ZECHARIAEL— CHAP.  XIII.  3G5 

esy  falsely,  bis  own  father  and  mother  shall  be  so  zealous  for  God  and 
for  truth  that  they  shall  solemnly  declare  unto  him,  "  Thou  shalt 
not   live;"  and,  moreover,  they  shall  not  merely  threaten;  they 

shall  even  thrust  him  through  in  his  very  act  of  prophesying. 

To  make  the  case  stand  out  the  more  strongly,  stress  is  laid  upon 
the  parental  relation  :  his  father  tbat  begat  and  his  mother  that  bare 
him  will  not  shrink  from  taking  his  life.  This  would  be  according 
to  the  Mosaic  law.  See  the  passages,  very  strong  and  explicit : 
Deut.  13  :  6-10  and  18  :  20. 

4.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  the 
prophets  shall  be  ashamed  every  one  of  his  vision,  when 
he  hath  prophesied ;  neither  shall  they  wear  a  rough  gar- 
ment to  deceive : 

Public  sentiment  gives  no  countenance  to  the  abominable  sin  of 
pretending  to  be  the  Lord's  prophet.     Hence,  all  men  of  this  class 

should  be  ashamed  of  their  former  pretended  visions. The  "rough 

garment"  was  one  used  by  mourners,  and  worn  by  false  prophets 
to  make  the  people  think  they  were  bearing  the  sins  of  the  nation 
sorrowfully  on  their  hearts — somewhat  in  imitation  of  the  true 
.prophets  of  the  Lord. 

5.  But  he  shall  say,  I  am  no  prophet,  I  am  an  hus- 
bandman ;  for  man  taught  me  to  keep  cattle  from  my 
youth. 

6.  And  one  shall  say  unto  him,  What  are  these 
wounds  in  thy  hands  ?  Then  he  shall  answer,  Those 
with  which  I  was  wounded  in  the  house  of  my  friends. 

"But  one  shall  say"  (a  supposed  case),  "lam  an  husbandman, 
for  a  man  sold  me  from  my  youth,"  i.  e.,  as  a  servant.  This  is  the 
precise  sense  of  the  original,  which  says  nothing  specially  about 
"keeping  cattle."  He  means  to  show  that  his  position  in  life  has 
been  such  as  should  remove  all  suspicion  of  his  playing  the  false 

prophet.     He  has  been  held  as  a  servant  all  his  days. But  there 

are  palpable  marks  on  his  person  that  convict  him  of  lying  even 
now  ;  hence,  one  replies  to  him — What  mean  those  gashes  on  your 
hands  ?  He  can  only  confess  the  truth  :  "  They  were  inflected  by 
my  associates  according  to  the  custom  of  idol  worshippers,  in  their 

temples." The  word  rendered  "friends"  means  properly  lovers; 

but  is  used  in  the  bad  sense,  and  here  of  his  fellow  idolaters  involved 

like  himself  in  this  harlotry  to  which  the  word  "lovers"  refers. 

Jewish  as  well  as  profane  history  shows  clearly  that  cutting  the 
flesh  was  common  in  idol  worship.  (See  1  Kings  18 ;  Jer.  16:6  and 
41 :  5  ;  Deut.  14  : 1.)  The  common  idea  of  penance  may  be  supposed 
to  lie  at  the  bottom  of  such  practices;  a  consciousness  of  guilt; 
the  demands  of  remorse  ;  coupled  with  the  notion  that  the  gods  will 
exact  some  suffering  for  such  sins,  and  hence  each  man  had  best  in- 
flict it  upon  himself,  rather  than  leave  it  for  the  gods  to  inflict. 


300 


ZECHARIAH .— CHAP.  XIIT. 


7.  Awake,  O  sword,  against  my  shepherd,  and  against 
the  man  that  is  my  fellow,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts  :  smite 
the  shepherd,  and  the  sheep  shall  be  scattered ;  and  I 
will  turn  mine  hand  upon  the  little  ones. 

This  verse  refers  to  the  death,  of  Christ  by  violent  hands,  and  its 
results  as  to  the  flock  of  which  he  was  the  shepherd.  An  active 
imagination  gives  life  and  will  to  the  sic ord,  considered  as  the  instru- 
ment in  a  violent  death,  and  the  Lord  of  hosts  commands — 
"Awake"  (as  if  it  had  been  asleep,  at  rest),  "awake  against  my 
shepherd"  (the  Messiah),  described  here  as  being  "the  man  that  is 
my  nearest  friend  " — for  such  is  the  sense  of  the  word  rendered 
"  my  fellow."  This  word  occurs  elsewhere  only  in  the  Pentateuch, 
and  there  in  such  passages  as  Lev.  6  :  2,  and  19 :  11,  15,  17,  and  25 : 
15,  &c,  "  Ye  shall  not  lie  nor  deceive  each  man  his  near  friend," 
&c.  "  If  a  man  lie  unto  his  neighbor  in  that  which  was  delivered 
him  to  keep,  or  hath  deceived  his  neighbor,"  &c.  This  usage  shows 
that  the  word  is  used  for  the  nearest  human  relationship,  not  in- 
volving consanguinity.  It,  therefore,  well  expresses  the  relation 
between  the  Father  and  the  Son,  when  he  is  thought  of  as  incarnate 
— in  his  human  nature.     This  human  nature  of  Jesus  stood  in  this 

close  relation  to  the  rather. The  bold  metaphor,  "Awake,  O 

sword,"  &c,  has  its  analogy  in  Jer.  47  :  G,  7  :  "  O  thou  sword  of  the 
Lord,  how  long  ere  thou  wilt  be  quiet  ?     Put  up  thyself  into  thy 

scabbard  ;  rest  and  be  still." "  How  can  it  be  quiet,  seeing  the 

Lord  hath  given  it  a  charge  against  Ashkelon  and  against  the  sea 

shore?     There  hath  he  appointed  it." This  sword  of  the  Lord  is 

the  Lord's  executioner.  So  in  our  passage  the  Lord  of  hosts  com- 
mands the  sword  to  its  work,  remarkably  recognizing  the  divine 
agency  in  the  atoning  death  of  the  Lamb  of  God.  Our  Saviour 
intimated  the  same  agency  when  he  said  to  Pilate  (John  19:  11), 
"Thou  couldest  have  no  power  against  me  except  it  were  given 

thee  from  above." The  Lord  Jehovah  had  most  important  ends 

to  accomplish  in  his  kingdom  by  this  violent  death  of  "  the  Lamb 
of  God  who  was  to  take  "away  the  sin  of  the  world,"  and  therefore 
suffered  him  to  tall  into  the  hands  of  wicked  men,  and  suffered  those 
wicked  hands  to  take  his  life.  "What  God  suffers  to  be  done,  he  is 
sometimes  said  to  do. The  consequences  to  the  flock  are  depict- 
ed :  "  Smite  the  shepherd,  and  the  sheep  shall  be  scattered  " — the 
natural  result  when  their  protector  and  guide  falls.  So  in  chap. 
11 :  G,  9-14,  where  the  good  shepherd  is  practically  rejected  by  his 
flock,  and  where  a  tacit  allusion  to  his  dishonored  death  is  implied 
(vs.  12,  13),  the  consequences  are  the  utter  ruin  of  the  corrupt  and 
guilty  portion  of  the  covenant  people.  Those  Jews  who  murdered 
the  Son  of  God  and  repented  not  of  their  deeds,  brought  down  on 

their  city  and  their  entire  nationality  a  fearful  doom. But  the 

Lord  turns  back  his  hand  to  spare  and  save  his  little  ones.  (The 
same  use  of  this  verb,  "  turn  back,"  may  be  seen  Isa.  1 :  25.)  The 
same  hand  that  was  stretched  out  to  destroy  the  guilty,  reversing 


ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.   XIII.  307 

its  action,  turned  itself  back  to  protect  and  bless  "  the  poor  of  the 
flock  that  waited  on  me,"  as  they  are  described,  chap.  11 :  11.  A 
few  of  the  Jewish  people  received  Jesus  as  their  Messiah,  became 
his  disciples  while  he  lived  or  converts  to  his  faith  after  his  death, 

and  these  became  objects  of  his  special  care  and  love. It  remains 

to  consider  the  connection  of  this  verse  with  the  one' immediately 
preceding.  I  think  this  connection  falls  under  the  law  of  associa- 
tion of  ideas.  The  close  analogy  between  the  false  prophet,  whose 
hands  had  been  gashed  and  pierced  "  in  the  house  of  his  friends," 
and  the  Messiah,  whose  hands  were  pierced  in  a  death  by  crucifixion 
among  those  who  ought  to  have  been  his'  friends,  suggested  the 
latter  case,  and  led  the  prophet  to  speak  of  it  here.  This  accounts 
for  its  coming  in  here  out  of  place  in  the  sense  of  being  both  aside 
from  the  general  course  of  thought  in  this  chapter,  and  out  of  its 
chronological  order — his  violent  death  having  been  assumed  in  chap. 
11,  and  certainly  thought  of  as  already  past  in  12:  10  and  13  :  1. 
This  renewed  allusion  to  it  is  therefore  due  to  the  power  of  this  law 

of  suggestion. In  this  explanation,  it  is  assumed  that  in  speaking 

to  men,  the  Spirit  of  inspiration  not  only  uses  human  language,  but 
follows  human  laws  of  thought  in  determining  the  succession  of 
ideas.  We  may  be  quite  unable  to  make  up  a  full  and  perfect  an- 
swer to  the  question,  JVhat  is  inspiration  ?  but  it  stands  out  undeni- 
ably on  the  face  of  these  inspired  writings  that  inspiration  does 
not  supersede  nor  override  the  laws  of  mental  association  by  which 
one  thought  suggests  another  analogous  one. 

8.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  in  all  the  land, 
saith  the  Lord,  two  parts  therein  shall  be  cnt  off  and 
die ;  but  the  third  shall  be  left  therein. 

9.  And  I  will  bring  the  third  part  through  the  fire, 
and  will  refine  them  as  silver  is  refined,  and  will  try 
them  as  gold  is  tried :  they  shall  call  on  my  name,  and 
I  will  hear  them  ;  I  will  say,  It  is  my  people  ;  and  they 
shall  say,  The  Lord  is  my  God. 

The  primary  sense  of  these  verses  is -clear.  Over  all  the  land, 
two  parts  out  of  three  are  cut  off  and  die  ;  the  third  part  remain- 
ing, is  purified  through  the  fires  of  earthly  discipline.  These  be- 
come far  more  fully  than  before  the  people  of  the  living  God. 

But  while  the  rendering  of  these  words  is  plain,  and  their  current 
usage  well  established,  the  question  of  their  application  and  fulfil- 
ment as  prophecy  is  by  no  means  so  obvious. It  has  been  com- 
mon for  interpreters  to  assume  the  closest  possible  connection  be- 
tween these  verses  and  v.  7,  and  hence  to  apply  them  to  the  case 
of  the  lineal  Jews  immediately  subsequent  to  the  crucifixion  of 
Christ,  when,  as  they  would  say,  the  greater  part — two-thirds — of 
the  people  were  cut  off  violently  by  the  Roman  arms;  the  remain- 
ing third  purified  and  brought  into  the  Christian  Church. This 


303  ZECHAKIAH.— CHAP.  XIII. 

may ^>$sz7>/?/ be  the  correct  view;  but  there  are  serious  objections 
to  it:  (1.)  The  facts  of  history  do  not  verify  it ;  the  proportion  cut 
off  being  much  more  than  two  parts  out  of  three,  and  the  saved 

being  less  than  one  in  three. (2.)  The  sated  are  here  thought 

of  as  being  the  entire  visible  Church  of  God.  But  in  fact,  the 
Church  in  the  apostolic  age  was  far  more  of  Gentiles  than  of  Jews. 
(3.)  This  construction  is  out  of  the  chronological  order  which  runs 
not  only  through  chapters  9-11,  but  also  through  chapters  12  and 
13,  up  to  the  digression  which  takes  us  back  for  a  moment  to  the  cru- 
cifixion in  13  :  ?. Chapter  12  :  1-9  gives  us  the  Christian  Church 

passing  through  its  fifst  three  centures,  a  period  of  persecution. 
Chapter  12:  10  to  13:  1  gives  the  effect  of  Messiah's  death  as  through 
the  Holy  Ghost  a  power  unto  penitence,  prayer,  and  pardon.  Chap. 
13 :  2-6,  the  great  advance  made  in  the  Christian  Church  in  real 
piety,  presented  by  means  of  Jewish  historic  allusions,  but  manifest- 
ly meaning  that  the  people  of  God  are,  through  divine  mercy, 
redeemed  from  reigning  sin,  and  brought  into  a  far  higher  state  of 
Christian  life  than  the  covenant  people  had  reached  during  the  ages 

before  Christ. Thus  far,  then,  the  reader  will  notice  a  somewhat 

regular  chronological  order,  a  progress  onward  in  time  in  the  course 
of  thought.  It  is  reversing  this  course  to  go  back  in  this  passage 
(13 :  8,  9)  to  the  date  of  chap.  11.  It  quite  breaks  out  of  the  line 
of  historic  events  in  which  we  were  moving  in  the  passage  13:  2-6. 

1  therefore  suggest  another  construction,  viz. :  that  vs.  8,  9  lie 

in  the  same  line  of  thought  with  vs.  2-6,  and  looking  to  a  somewhat 
later  period  in  the  Christian  age,  give  us  the  corruptions  of  Christian- 
ity, and  indicate  that  God  will  sever  those  corrupt  portions,  prior  to 

the  millennial  age. It  is  obvious  that  chap.  14  gives  us  first  the 

opening  scenes  and  then  the  full  consummation  of  millennial  purity 
and  glory.  If  we  give  due  heed  to  the  chronological  succession  of 
prophetic  events  in  this  prophet  through  chapters  9  to  13 :  6,  and  allow 
for  continued  progress  on  the  same  grade  of  advance,  we  shall  find 
ourselves  drawing  nigh  the  millennial  age  in  the  clo.-ing  verses  of 

chap.  13. It  has  been  already  suggested  that  the  main  reason 

for  applying  vs.  8  and  9  to  the  lineal  Jews  at  the  point  where  they 
took  sides  for  Christ  or  against  him  in  the  latter  half  of  the  first  cen- 
tury, is  the  assumption  that  they  stand  closely  connected  with  v.  7. 
This  class  of  interpreters  would  paraphrase  thus:  "Smite  the 
shepherd,  then  shall  the  ancient  covenant  people  be  scattered  and 
broken  up ;  two  parts  of  them  shall  reject  Jesus  Christ  and  perish 
miserably  under  the  Roman  arms;  the  remaining  third  part  shall  be- 
come the  beloved  and  sanctified  people  of  God." But  instead  of 

this,  the  connection  may  be  quite  different,  thus :  The  manifestation 
of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  flesh  served  to  reveal  the  utter  rottenness  of 
the  visible  Jewish  church.  When  the  shepherd  was  smitten,  the 
mass  of  that  church  went  to  ruin ;  only  a  few  of  the  little  ones 
were  saved.  So,  in  the  advanced  ages  of  the  Christian  Church,  cor- 
ruption became  again  fearfully  prevalent,  and  another  great  sifting 
process  became  indispensable  before  the  era  of  the  final  conquest 


ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  XIII.  369 

and  triumph  of  Christ's  kingdom  could  open.  That  is,  as  v.  7  came 
in  under  the  influence  of  association  of  ideas,  so  it  goes  out  and  v.  8 
comes  in,  under  the  same  general  law  of  analogy — v.  7  standing  alone 
as  a  diversion  from  the  current  strain  of  chronological  thought.  The 
analogy  between  the  corrupt  Judaism  of  the  Saviour's  day  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  corrupt  Christianity  of  the  mediaeval  Christian 
age,  onward  indeed  to  the  present  day,  is  the  law  of  connection  be- 
tween v.  7  and  v.  8. In  support  of  this  view,  let  it  be  noted  that 

the  prophet  does  not  put  the  eighth  verse  in  close  connection  as  to 
time  with  verse  7.  He  does  not  say,  "  in  that  day,  two  parts 
therein  shall  be  cut  off,"  &c.  Let  the  reader  notice  how  constantly 
he  has  used  this  phrase  wherever  he  meant  this  thing,  as  e.  g.,  in  12 : 
3,  4,  6,  8,  9,  11,  and  13  :  1,  2,  4— nine  times  within  this  and  the 
previous  chapters.  Hence  its  omission  here  should  at  least  suggest 
a  grave  doubt  whether  ho  could  have  located  these  events  (vs.  8 
and  9)  "  in  the  same  day  "  with  those  of  v.  7.     If  he  did,  why  did 

he  not  say  so? -Yet  further,  our  translators  manifestly  leaned 

strongly  toward  the  application  of  these  verses  to  the  Jews  exclu- 
sively, and  therefore  rendered  "in  all  the  land;  "  but  Zechariah 
wrote  it,  "  in  all  the  earth.''''  *  This  Hebrew  phrase  is  used  more 
than  fifty  times  (I  count  fifty-nine)  in  the  sense  of  all  the  earth.  I 
find  but  three  cases  of  its  use  for  Judea  only,  and  in  these  the  con- 
nection furnishes  the  limitation.  This  same  phrase  is  used  by  our 
prophet  in  14:  9  :   "And- the  Lord  shall  be  king  over  all  the  earth; 

in  that  day  shall  there  be  one  Lord,  and  his  name  one." This 

usage  ought  (it  would  seem)  to  be  accounted  decisive  proof  that 
Zechariah  in  vs.  8,  9  speaks  of  Christianity  as  a  whole  all  over  the 
world,  and  not  of  Judaism  in  Palestine  only. 

Such,  in  brief,  are  the  reasons  which  compel  me  to  differ  widely 
from  the  current  interpretation  of  these  verses.  I  am  constrained 
to  apply  them  to  the  gigantic  corruptions  of  the  nominally  Christian 
Church,  especially  the  Roman  and  the  Greek,  and  not  altogether 
excepting  some  of  those  that  have  been  once  ostensibly  reformed. 
Let  it  be  asked,  What  does  the  "American  and  Foreign  Christian 
Union  "  find  to  do  ?  Or  let  us  ask,  How  large  a  portion  of  nominal 
Christendom  to-day  comes  up  to  the  standard  of  these  words : 
"They  shall  call  on  my  name  and  I  will  hear  them;  I  will  say,  It 
is  my  people,  and  they  shall  say,  The  Lord  is  my  God  "?  "Who  can 
doubt  that  the  fires  of  discipline  and  of  judgment  must  pass  over 
the  nominally  Christian  world,  sifting  out  the  precious  from  the 

vile,  and  consuming  whatever  proves  to  be  only  dross  ? How 

large  a  part  of  this  work  shall  be  wrought  by  the  moral  and  spiritual 
agencies  of  truth,  purifying  and  converting;  and  how  much  by  the 
stern  agencies  of  consuming  fire,  time  only  can  fully  show.  This 
language  looks  toward  the  latter.  Let  the  people  of  God  press 
their  gospel  work  to  the  utmost  while  they  may ! 

I      V   T    T  T    : 

16* 


370  ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  XIV. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

TnE  principles  of  interpretation  which  should  rule  in  this  chap- 
ter have  been  fully  discussed  and  brought  out  in  my  remarks  intro- 
ductory to  chapter  12.  The  events  which  it  portrays  are  all  yet  in 
the  future.  Consequently  there  is  no  occasion  to  try  to  locate  them 
in  history,  or  to  define  their  precise  historic  character.  Their  gen- 
eral significance  and  results  may  be  inferred  with  reasonable  cer- 
tainty.  The  entire  costume  is  Jewish,  as  we  ought  to  expect. 

Jerusalem  is  invested  by  the  combined  forces  of  all  nations ;  the 
city  taken  and  sacked;  half  its  people  go  into  captivity  (vs.  1,  2). 
The  Lord  comes  forth  to  fight  against  those  nations  (v.  3)  ;  he  stands 
on  the  mount  of  Olives  and  cleaves  it  in  twain  for  his  people  to  pass 
through  (v.  4) ;  they  flee,  but  ultimately  the  Lord  and  his  holy  ones 
appear  for  their  salvation  (v.  5) ;  a  most  peculiar  twilight  period  fol- 
lows, breaking  forth  near  evening  into  the  effulgence  of  full  day 
(vs.  6.  7) ;  living  waters  flow  from  Jerusalem  perpetually  (v.  8) ;  Jeho- 
vah alone  is  King  over  all  the  earth  (v.  9) ;  the  whole  world  becomes 
a  plain,  and  the  temple-mountain  stands  alone  the  only  mountain 
(v.  10) ;  the  plague  that  comes  on  those  who  fought  against  Jerusa- 
lem (v.  12) — panic  and  mutual  slaughter  consume  them  (v.  13) ;  Judah 
aids  Jerusalem  in  this  great  conflict  against  their  common  foes  (v. 
14) ;  God's  judgments  reach  all  the  domestic  animals  used  by  their 
enemies,  as  well  as  their  owners  (v.  15) ;  all  the  surviving  people 
of  the  world  shall  go  up  to  Jerusalem  to  worship  (v.  16)  ;  the  plague 
on  those  who  will  not  go  up  (v.  17),  and  especially  on  Egypt  (vs.  18, 
19);  holiness  to  the  Lord  in  all  inanimate  things,  universal  and 
final  (vs.  20,  21). 

1.  Behold,  the  clay  of  the  Lord  cometh,  and  thy  spoil 
shall  be  divided  in  the  midst  of  thee. 

"Behold,"  calls  special  attention  to  what  follows,  as  of  the 

deepest  interest  and  greatest  importance. Remarkably,  the  usual 

form,  "day  of  the  Lord,"  is  materially  changed  here.  It  is — "a 
day  comes  for  the  Lord" — one  day  preeminently  for  Jtim,  in  which 
he  will  fully  vindicate  his  name  as  the  God  of  Zion,  his  power  as 
one  mighty  to  save,  and  his  faithfulness  as  one  who,  having  long 
ago  promised,  comes  forth  now  in  the  fulness  of  time  to  perform. 
The  other  form — simply  day  of  the  Lord  * — occurs  in  Joel  1 :  15 
and  2  :  1,  11,  31,  and  3  :  14;  Amos  5  :  18,  20;  Zcph.  1  :  14,  and 
elsewhere ;  but  this  is  unique  and  peculiar,!  occurring,  however, 
substantially  in  Jer.  51 :  6,  "Flee  out  of  the  midst  of  Babylon;  be 
not  cut  off  in  her  iniquity ;  for  it  is  a  time  of  vengeance  for  the 

Lord."      Also  in  Isa.  2 :  12. "  Thy  spoil  shall  be  divided  in  the 

midst  of  thee,"  is  of  course  said  of  Jerusalem,  and  implies  that  she 

*  nirn  -•>  4  r'y^b  xs  en 


ZECnARIAIT.— CHAP.  XIV.  371 

is  in  the  power  of  her  enemies ;  "  for  no  man  can  enter  into.a  strong 
man's  house  and  spoil  his  goods,  except  lie  first  bind  the  strong 

man  ;  then  shall  he  spoil  his  goods." Sad  eclipse  must  this  be 

for  the  Church  of  God,  represented  as  analogous  to  that  of  the  Jews 
when  the  proud  Chaldean  spoiled  her  city  and  temple. 

2.  For  I  will  gather  all  nations  against  Jerusalem  to 
battle ;  and  the  city  shall  be  taken,  and  the  houses  rifled, 
and  the  women  ravished ;  and  half  of  the  city  shall  go 
forth  into  captivity,  and  the  residue  of  the  people  shall 
not  be  cut  off  from  the  city. 

This  verse  gives  somewhat  the  details  of  the  case,  to  show  how 
it  comes  to  pass  that  the  spoil  of  the  city  is  divided  among  its  cap- 
tors within  her  very  walls.  The  Lord,  by  his  providential  agencies, 
brings  all  the  nations  up  against  Jerusalem  to  battle.  In  this  one 
prominent  feature,  this  prophecy  harmonizes  with  Ezek.  38  and  39, 

and  with  Rev.  20 :  8,  9. The  city  is  taken ;  the  horrible  scenes 

usually  consequent  on  such  a  capture  ensue.      Finally,  half  the 

people  go  into  captivity ;  the  other  half  remain  in  the  city. "We 

do  not  hear  from  these  captives  again.  They  meet  the  doom  of  the 
wicked,  and  doubtless  represent  the  corrupt  and  not  truly  pious 

portion  of  the  people. This  cleansing  of  the  nominal  Church  by 

which  one-half  is  sloughed  off,  taken  in  connection  with  the  simi- 
lar operation  predicted  (chap.  13  :  8,  9),  which  cut  off  two  parts  out 
of  three,  gives  us  a  strong  view  of  the  fearful  corruption  of  the 
Church,  and  of  the  amount  of  winnowing  and  separation  requisite 
before  her  great  victories  over  the  wide  world  can  be  achieved. 
Like  the  host  of  Gideon,  her  host  is  to  be  reduced  to  the  faithful 
few. 

3.  Then  shall  the  Lord  go  forth,  and  fight  against 
those  nations,  as  when  he  fought  in  the  day  of  battle. 

uThen  shall  the  Lord  go  forth" — this  Hebrew  verb  being  the 
common  one  for  "going  out"  to  war  and  battle,  e.  g.,  Hab.  3 :  13, 
and  Isa.  26  :  21,  which  latter  passage,  like  the  one  before  us,  as- 
sumes that  the  Lord  has  been  at  rest,  waiting  for  the  fit  hour,  and  now 

comes  forth  for  special  displays  of  his  power  against  his  foes. 

"  As  when  he  fought  in  the  day  of  battle,"  suggests  the  inquiry, 
What  special  day,  if  any,  is  referred  to.  The  original  repeats  the 
word  "day"  thus:  "as  in  the  day  of  his  fighting  in  the  day  of 
battle."  Very  probably  the  prophet  alludes  to  the  overthrow  of 
Pharaoh's  host  in  the  Red  Sea.  That  conflict  stood  preeminent 
above  all  others  yet,  and  should  the  more  surely  be  assumed  as  pres- 
ent in  thought  here  because  the  parting  asunder  of  the  Mount  of 
Olives,  as  in  the  next  verse,  is  a  tacit  allusion  to  that  parting  of  the 
Red  Sea  for  a  similar  purpose,  viz.,  the  escape  of  his  people  from 
their  persuing  foes. 


372  ZECHAKIAH.— CHAP.   XIV. 

4.  And  his  feet  shall  stand  in  that  day  upon  the 
monnt  of  Olives,  which  is  before  Jerusalem  on  the  east, 
and  the  monnt  of  Olives  shall  cleave  in  the  midst  thereof 
toward  the  east  and  toward  the  west,  and  there  shall  he 
a  very  great  valley ;  and  half  of  the  mountain  shall  re- 
move toward  the  north,  and  half  of  it  toward  the  south. 

The  commander  of  a  vast  army  takes  some  elevated  position 
which  overlooks  the  battle-field.  So  Jehovah  takes  his  stand  on 
the  Monnt  of  Olives,  which  overlooked  the  city  on  the  east,  afford- 
ing the  best  commanding  view  of  the  city.  To  give  the  greater 
vividness  to  the  scene  as  a  reality,  it  is  said  "his  feet  shall  stand 
there." The  mountain  cleaves  asunder  in  the  middle,  half  remov- 
ing northward  and  half  southward,  leaving  a  wide  valley.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  of  a  tacit  historical  allusion  here  to  the  very  simi- 
lar cleaving  of  the  Eed  Sea  for  his  people  to  escape  from  Pharaoh's 
pursuing  host.  That  was  done  literally ;  this,  being  an  historical 
allusion,  means  only  that  a  deliverance  is  now  effected  like  that, 
equally  glorious  to  the  power  that  saved  his  people,  equally  effective 
for  their  salvation.  The  analogy  will  be  yet  more  complete  if  we 
may  suppose,  with  Hengstenberg,  that  the  mountain  is  cleft  by  an 
earthquake,  which,  while  it  opened  the  mountain  for  their  easy 
escape,  swallowed  up  their  enemies.     As  the  text  does  not  affirm 

this,  however,  it  must  stand  as  mere  conjecture. This  earthquake 

alarmed  the  retreating  host  and  hastened  their  flight — of  which  fear 
and  flight  the  next  verse  speaks. 

5.  And  ye  shall  flee  to  the  valley  of  the  mountains ; 
for  the  valley  of  the  mountains  shall  reach  unto  Azal : 
yea,  ye  shall  flee,  like  as  ye  fled  from  before  the  earth- 
quake in  the  days  of  Uzziah  king  of  Judah :  and  the 
Lord  my  God  shall  come,  and  all  the  saints  with  thee. 

"And  ye  flee  along  the  valley  of  my  mountains  " — called  here 
the  Lord's,  because  he  had  cleft  and  prepared  them  for  his  people 
to  pass  along  the  valley  between  them — "for  this  valley  of  the 
mountains  shall  reach  to  Azal " — a  city  lying  east  of  the  Mount  of 
Olives,  its  name  signifying  that  it  is  a  suitable  place  for  halting  in 

safety. This  earthquake  in  the  days  of  Uzziah  is  not  noticed  in 

the  historical  books,  but  is  probably  alluded  to  by  Amos  (1 :  1). 
That,  like  this,  was  a  time  of  panic  and  of  earnest  flight  from  the 

city  to  the  mountains  for  safety. "  Now  there  comes  the  Lord  my 

God,  and  all  the  saints  with  thee."  With  this  the  scene  changes; 
Immanuel  appears  in  preeminent  splendor,  and  all  the  holy  in  his 
train.  The  nearest  parallel  to  this  scene  as  respects  his  retinue  is 
Deut.  33  :  2,  where  Moses  said :  "  The  Lord  came  from  Sinai ;  he 
sinned  forth  from  Mount  Paran,  and  he  came  with  ten  thousands  of 
saints,"  &c.    The  prophet  speaks  of  this  scene  as  it  appeared  to 


ZECHARIAIL— CHAP.   XIV.  373 

him  in  prophetic  vision.  The  scene  was  peculiarly  and  preeminently 
impressive.  He  had  a  vivid  sense  of  Immanuel,  "  the  captain  of  the 
Lord's  host,"  as  his  own  God;. and.  the  God  of  his  own  people,  and 
therefore  says,  "There  comes  the  Lord  my  God  /" 

The  next  striking  feature  he  puts  in  the  form  of  an  address  to 

Immanuel:  u All  the  holy  ones  are  with  thee." The  great  aim 

of  this  revelation  is  to  impress  the  prophet,  and  through  his  words 
all  the  people  of  God  in  every  age,  with  this  great  truth,  that  Jesus 
Immanuel  is  the  Almighty  Saviour  of  his  people,  and  that  he  em- 
ploys angelic  spiritual  beings  as  his  agents  in  the  ministrations  of 
his  mediatorial  reign,  both  in  the  care  of  his  people  and  in  his  judg- 
ments on  the  wicked.  Hence  these  agents  sometimes  appear  in  the 
visions  of  prophecy.  Isaiah  "saw  the  Lord  sitting  upon  a  throne, 
high  and  lifted  up,  and  above  him  were  the  seraphim."  The  same 
thing  was  symbolized  when  (2  Kings  6  :  17)  Elisha  prayed  in  behalf 
of  his  young  servant:  "Lord,  I  pray  thee  open  his  eyes,  that  he 
may  see.  And  the  Lord  opened  the  eyes  of  the  young  man,  and  he 
saw,  and  behold,  the  mountain  was  full  of  horses  and  chariots  of 

fire  round  about  Elisha."- This  was  only  bringing  before  the 

prophet's  mental  eye  the  actual  verities  of  things— those  agencies, 
full  of  power,  though  usually  invisible  to  mortals,  by  which  Jesus 
Christ  administers  the  providential  government  of  this  world.  In 
this  view  of  the  passage,  the  saints  (literally  the  holy  ones)  are 
especially  the  angels,  who  are  all  ministering  spirits  sent  of  God, 
either  to  minister  blessings  to  the  heirs  of  salvation,  or  judgments 

on  the  heirs  of  perdition. Some  interpreters  suppose  they  find 

in  this  passage  the  visible  personal  advent  of  Christ  with  his  risen 
saints — the  pious  dead — to  reign  in  this  world,  in  what  must  be  es- 
sentially a  "  kingdom  of  this  world."  I  find  in  it  no  such  thing. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  language  of  this  verse  that  demands  such  a 
construction,  and  nothing  in  the  subsequent  scenes  of  the  chapter 
at  all  suggestive  of  an  order  of  things  so  very  peculiar,  and  so  en- 
tirely unlike  what  prophecy  currently  sets  forth  as  the  era  of  the 
triumphs  of  gospel  truth  and  love  upon  earth. 

6.  And  it  shall  come  -to  pass  in  that  day,  that  the 
light  shall  not  be  clear,  nor  dark-: 

7.  But  it  shall  be  one  day  which  shall  be  known  to 
the  Lord,  not  day,  nor  night :  but  it  shall  come  to  pass, 
that  at  evening  time  it  shall  be  light. 

The  sixth  verse  requires  a  more  careful  and  accurate  transla- 
tion, thus :  "  And  it  shall  be  on  that  day,  there  shall  be  no  light  ; 
the  sources  of  splendor "  (the  luminaries  of  heaven)  "  shall  be 
shut  up,  and  it  shall  be  one  day  "  (unique  and  unlike  all  other  days), 
"  known  to  the  Lord  "  (only) ;  "  not  day  and  not  night :  but  it  shall 

come  to  pass  that  at  evening  time  it  shall  be  light."- There  seems 

to  be  a  gradation  here  through  three  distinct  stages:  first,  utter 
darkness ;  then,  a  dim  twilight,  like  that  of  an  eclipse ;  then,  at  the 


374  ZEGHAEIAH.— CHAP.  XIV. 

close  of  the  day,  when  you  might  expect  darkness  soon  to  cover  the 

earth,  lo,  the  effulgence  of  full  and  glorious  day! This  must  be 

taken  as  an  epitome  of  the  state  of  the  Church,  as  seen  by  the 
prophet  somewhere  in  the  then  distant  future.  How  long  this  period, 
here  called  "  a  day,"  shall  be,  we  have  no  means  of  knowing,  nor 
can  we  know  yet  the  peculiar  circumstances  which  constitute  the 
darkness  of  its  morning,  the  dim  twilight  of  its  mid-day,  and  the 
glorious  effulgence  of  its  close ;  which,  indeed,  instead  of  being  its 
slose,  seems  rather  to  be  the  opening  of  a  long  and  ineffably  glori- 
ous day! It  must  suffice  us  that  we  may  learn  from  such  prophe- 
cies that  the  Lord  knoweth  his  thoughts  of  mercy  toward  our  sin- 
ful world,  and  that  he  has  great  and  glorious  blessings  yet  to  bring 

forth  from  the  infinite  stores  of  his  love! The  prophet  proceeds 

to  give  us  yet  farther  illustrations  of  the  better  day  that  shall  follow 
this  darkness  and  dimness. 

8.  And  it  shall  be  in  that  day,  that  living  waters  shall 
go  out  from  Jerusalem  ;  half  of  them  toward  the  former 
sea,  and  half  of  them  toward  the  hinder  sea :  in  summer 
and  in  winter  shall  it  be. 

As  we  have  seen  in  the  notes  on  Joel  3  :  18  ("a  fountain  shall 
come  forth  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  shall  water  the  valley  of 
Shittim"),  water  is  a  natural  symbol  of  God's  spiritual  blessings, 
especially  those  in  which  the  agencies  of  the  Holy  Spirit  are  prom- 
inent. Indeed,  water  is  the  special  symbol  of  this  divine  Spirit,  as 
may  be  seen  in  the  explanatory  clauses  of  Ezek.  36 :  25,  27,  and  of 
Isaiah  44:3.  The  latter  reads,  "I  will  pour  water  on  him  that  is 
thirsty" — shown  to  mean,  "I  will  pour  my  Spirit  upon  thy  seed, 
and  my  blessing  upon  thy  offspring."  Ezekiel  has  it,  "  Then  will  I 
sprinkle  clean  water  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be  clean,"  &c. — shown 
to  mean,  "  I  will  put  my  Spirit  within  you,  and  cause  you  to  walk 
in  my  statutes,"  &c.  Moreover,  the  very  terms  which  express  the 
manner  of  giving  the  Spirit  indicate  this:  "I  will  pour  my  Spirit 

upon  you,"  &c. Strikingly  parallel  to  this  passage  of  Zechariah 

is  Ezek.  47 :  1-12.  There  the  water  flows  from  under  the  sanctuary, 
here  from  Jerusalem;  there  in  one  widening,  deepening  stream, 
till  it  becomes  a  mighty  river,  and  sweeping  through  the  desert 
eastward,  pours  itself  into  the  Dead  Sea  and  heals  its  waters ;  here 
one-half  flows  into  the  front  sea,  which  is,  of  course,  the  Dead  Sea, 
and  the  other  half  into  the  Mediterranean  on  the  wTest.  That  of 
Ezekiel  carries  on  its  bosom  health,  abundance,  undying  verdure, 
and  is  of  course  to  be  considered  perennial ;  this  flows  during  the 
arid  summer  as  well  as  the  rainy  winter,  which  amounts  to  saying 

that  it  flows  all  the  year,  and  year  after  year,  never  failing. Now, 

as  Palestine  would  be  rendered  almost  an  earthly  Paradise  by  such 
living  streams  as  Zechariah  and  Ezekiel  have  described,  if  the?/ were 
to  oe  miraculously  created  by  the  finger  of  God,  and  become  literal 
verities,  so  we  must  take  these  figures  as  predictions  of  blessings  of 


ZECUARIAIL— CHAP.   XIV.  375 

the  richest,  most  abundant,  and  most  enduring  kind  possible  for  God 

to  bestow  on  human  souls. That  Zechariah's  stream  of  water 

flows  from  Jerusalem  and  Ezekiel's  "  from  under  the  sanctuary  "  in- 
dicate plainly  that  the  Spirit  of  God  will  yet  continue,  as  ever,  to  make 
the  institutions  of  the  gospel — the  service  and  worship  of  the  sanc- 
tuary— the  vehicles  and  the  channels  through  which  he  will  pour 
abroad  the  fulness  of  his  blessings  upon  men. 

9.  And  the  Lord  shall  be  king  over  all  the  earth : 
in  that  day  shall  there  be  one  Loed,  and  his  name  one. 

The  precious  fact  predicted  here  is  that  the  Lord  Jehovah  reigns 
supreme  over  all  the  earth,  and  is  recognised  everyichere  as  the  only 
true  God.  The  sense  is  not  precisely  this — that  now  and  hence- 
forth there  shall  really  oe  but  one  God,  as  if  to  imply  that  in  for- 
mer times  there  had  been  more  true  Gods  than  one  ;  but  this — that 
now  he  is  known,  acknowledged,  honored,  obeyed,  as  the  one  only 
God.  The  very  names  of  other  gods  are  forgotten.  JSTo  other  name 
than  his  is  recognized  as  a  name  for  God.  Now,  therefore,  "  the 
kingdoms  of  this  world  have  become  the  kingdoms  of  oiir  Lord, 
and  of  his  Christ,  and  he  shall  reign  forever."  Now,  at  length,  the 
long-offered  prayer,  the  burden  of  pious  hearts  age  after  age,  is  ful- 
filled: "  Tlxy  kingdom  come ;  thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in 
heaven."  That  good  promise  by  the  mouth  and  pen  of  David  (Ps. 
22  :  27,  28),  has  now  come  to  pass :  "  All  the  ends  of  the  earth  shall 
remember,  and  turn  unto  the  Lord,  all  the  kindreds  of  the  nations 
shall  worship  before  thee;  for  the  kingdom  is  the  Lord's,  and  he  is 
Governor  among  the  nations." 

10.  All  the  land  shall  be  turned  as  a  plain  from  Geba 
to  Rimmon,  south  of  Jerusalem :  and  it  shall  be  lifted 
up,  and  inhabited  in  her  place,  from  Benjamin's  gate 
unto  the  place  of  the  first  gate,  unto  the  corner  gate, 
and  from  the  tower  of  Hananeel  unto  the  king's  wine- 
presses. 

"  All  the  land  "  should  read,  as  it  clearly  means,  all  the  earth, 
being  precisely  the  same  words  rendered  "  all  the  earth  "  in  the  pre- 
vious verse :  "  The  Lord  shall  be  king  over  all  the  earth."  "  Turned  " 
means  changed,  in  its  physical  conformation,  from  a  mountainous  to 
a  plain,  level  country.  The  sense  is  not  that  all  the  land  from  Geba 
to  Eiminon— so  much,  and  no  more — shall  become  a  plain,  but 
this:  that  all  the  earth  shall  become  a  plain  similar  to  that  from 
Geba  to  Eimmon.  The  Hebrew  reads,  "  All  the  earth  shall  be 
changed  and  become  like  to  the  plain  from  Geba  to  Eimmon,"  &c, 
not  a  plain.  "  South  of  Jerusalem  "  is  added  to  Eimmon  to  distin- 
guish it  from  another,  known  as  "  the  rock  Eimmon."  (See  Judges 
20  :  45,  47,  and  21 :  13.)  Geba  was  on  the  northern  border  of  Ju- 
dah  (2  Kings  23  :  8),  and  Eimmon  on  the  southern  (1  Chron.  4 :  32). 
"  It  shall  be  lifted  up  "  means  that  Jerusalem  shall  rise  in  lofty, 


376  ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  XIV. 

towering  grandeur,  the  only  mountain  in  all  the  world,  and,  of 
course,  the  chief  wonder  and  admiration  of  the  world,  the  Chimbo- 
razo  of  the  globe,  all  else  being  a  plain.  It  shall  be  crowned  on  it3 
summit  with  the  glorious  temple  of  the  living  God.  This  carries 
forward  the  figure  used  Micah  4:1  and  Isaiah  2  :  2,  at  least  one  im- 
portant step  further.  Micah  and  Isaiah  speak  of  the  temple-moun- 
tain as  "  established  "  (firmly  set)  "  on  the  top  of  the  mountains, 
and  exalted  above  the  hills."  Zechariah  sees  all  other  mountains 
and  hills  sinking  down  to  a  plain,  and  the  temple-mountain,  or 
rather  Jerusalem  herself  as  a  whole,  is  lifted  up  and  becomes  the 
only  mountain  of  the  world.  So  magnificent,  honorable,  and  glo- 
rious is  to  be  the  future  kingdom  of  Messiah — the  state  of  Christian 
faith  and  life  in  this  world  redeemed  from  its  sins  and  pollu- 
tions ! The  last  clause  of  the  verse  states  that  Jerusalem  shall 

again  sit  in  her  queenly  majesty,  the  metropolitan  city  of  this  glo- 
rious kingdom.  "  In  her  place  "  means  upon  her  former  foundations, 
which  is  also  expressed  by  the  more  particular  specification  of  the 
gates  and  well-known  points  of  the  old  city. 

11.  And  men  shall  dwell  in  it,  and  there  shall  be  no 
more  utter  destruction;' but  Jerusalem  shall  be  safely 
inhabited. 

As  Jerusalem  had  been  repeatedly  visited  with  the  fearfully 
blighting  curse  of  Jehovah  for  her  great  sins — once  inflicted  by  the 
cruel  Chaldeans,  and  again  to  be,  as  already  predicted,  by  the  stern 
Komans — it  was  specially  pertinent  for  the  prophet  to  say  that  there 
should  be  no  more  such  visitations  of  ruin.  Her  sins  having  been 
washed  away  and  herself  taken  under  the  special  protection  of  her 
Eedeemer,  there  would  be  no  more  occasion  for  such  "  utter  destruc- 
tion."    Henceforth  she  should  be  "inhabited  safely." 

12.  And  this  shall  be  the  plague  wherewith  the  Loud 
will  smite  all  the  people  that  have  fought  against  Jeru- 
salem ;  Their  flesh  shall  consume  away  while  they  stand 
upon  their  feet,  and  their  eyes  shall  consume  away  in 
their  holes,  and  their  tongue  shall  consume  away  in  their 
mouth. 

The  prophet  left  the  enemies  of  Zion  at  the  third  verse,  to  fol- 
low the  fortunes  of  Zion  herself,  and  to  show  us,  through  vs.  4-11, 
how  signally  the  Lord  appeared  for  her  help,  and  how  gloriously 
he  turned  her  darkness  into  day,  and  then  poured  out  for  her  living 
waters  and  rebuilt  her  capital  in  greater  and  more  enduring  splen- 
dor than  ever.  Now  he  returns  to  inform  us  of  the  doom  of  those 
old  enemies  who  marshalled  their  hosts  against  Zion,  as  appears  vs. 
1-3.  They  are  smitten  with  a  living  death.  Their  flesh,  touched 
with  some  consuming  leprosy,  perishes  while  yet  they  stand  upon 
their  feet.  Their  eyes  consume  away  in  their  sockets ;  their  tongue 
in  their  mouths.     The  eye  and  the  tongue  are  specified  as  being  the 


ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  XIV.  377 

most  valued  organs — those  of  sight  and  of  speech;  and  probably, 
too,  as  having  been  specially  used  in  their  war  upon  Zion.  With 
their  tongue  they  had  spoken  proudly,  blasphemously,  profanely. 
The  type  of  their  spirit  had  been,  "Let  her  be  defiled;  let  our  eye 
look  upon  Zion"  (Mic.  4:11).  "Where  is  the  Lord  thy  God? 
Mine  eye  shall  behold  her  "  (Mic.  7:10).  The  Lord  is  wont  to 
make  his  retributive  judgments  indicate  the  sin  for  which  they  are 
sent. This  plague  wherewith  the  Lord  shall  smite  the  open  ene- 
mies and  actual  assailants  of  his  Zion  is  intended  to  be  terrible. 
What  could  be  more  so  than  such  a  wasting  and  consuming  away, 
if  slowly,  yet  surely,  through  the  horrors  of  a  living  death,  till  the 
dread  reality  shall  have  fully  come  ? 

13.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  clay,  that  a 
great  tumult  from  the  Lord  shall  be  among  them ;  and 
they  shall  lay  hold  every  one  on  the  hand  of  his  neigh- 
bor, and  his  hand  shall  rise  up  against  the  hand  of  his 
neighbor. 

The  word  "  tumult  "  does  not  naturally  convey  the  full  sense  of 
the  original,  which  rather  means  a  'panic — the  blended  terror  and 
confusion  which  an  awful  sense  of  the  fact  that  Almighty  God  is 
against  them  would  naturally  produce.  Analogous  cases  appear  in 
the  pages  of  Jewish  history,  as  in  Judges  7 :  22,  where  "  Gideon's 
three  hundred  men  blew  with  the  trumpet,  and  the  Lord  set  every 
man's  sword  against  his  fellow  throughout  all  the  host ;  "  or  the 
case  of  Jonathan  and  his  armor-bearer  (1  Sam.  14:15,  16),  "and 
there  was  trembling  in  the  host,  in  the  field,  and  among  all  the 
people  " — "  the  earth  quaked,  so  it  was  a  very  great  trembling ; 
and  behold,  the  multitude  melted  away,  and  they  went  on  beating 
down  one  another."  Also  2  Chron.  20  :  23 — "  They  lay  hold  every 
one  on  the  hand  of  his  neighbor,"  not  to  help,  but  to  disarm  and 

smite  him. This  verse  and  the  preceding  should  be  located  in 

the  events  of  this  chapter,  immediately  after  the  first  three  verses. 
We  are  not  to  suppose  that  this  plague  of  v.  12,  and  this  panic  with 
mutual  slaughter  of  v.  13,  come  in  only  long  after  the  scenes  of  the 
first  three  verses,  and  after  Jerusalem  has  become  peaceful  and 
glorious.  They  rather  go  back  to  give  us  in  detail  the  manner  in 
which  the  Lord  disposed  of  those  enemies  that  fought  against  Jeru- 
salem, took  and  divided  her  spoil,  and  made  captives  of  half  her 
people.  All  suddenly,  the  plagues  of  Jehovah  smite  them ;  their 
fiesh  consumes  away ;  this  awful  form  of  death  serves  to  panic- 
smite  their  hosts,  and  they  fall  upon  each  other  in  the  dread  work 

of  mutual  slaughter ! "  So  let  all  thine  enemies  perish,  0  Lord  ; 

but  let  them  that  love  thee  be  as  the  sun  when  he  goeth  forth  in 
his  might!  "  (Judges  5  :  31). 

14.  And  Judah  also  shall  fight  at  Jerusalem ;  and 
the  wealth  of  all  the  heathen  round  about  shall  be  gath- 


378  ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.  XIV. 

ered  together,  gold,  and  silver,  and  apparel,  in  great 
abundance. 

Judah  fights  in  Jerusalem,  not  as  the  margin  has  it,  against 
her.  The  meaning  is  that,  with  a  mutually  good  understanding,  the 
people  of  the  country  rush  to  the  help  of  the  city,  and  fight  hero- 
ically within  the  city  for  her  defence.     The  spoil  from  the  enemy 

is  immense. The  ultimate  truth  taught  here  is  that  real  union 

shall  be  the  strength  and  glory  of  the  millennial  Church. 

15.  And  so  shall  be  the  plague  of  the  horse,  of  the 
mule,  of  the  camel,  and  of  the  ass,  and  of  all  the  beasts 
that  shall  be  in  these  tents,  as  this  plague. 

The  same  plague  that  came  from  the  Lord  upon  incorrigibly 
wicked  men  falls  also  on  all  their  cattle,  horses,  mules,  camels,  and 
asses.  They  are  supposed  to  be  polluted  by  the  horrible  corruption 
of  their  owners.  Moreover,  the  Lord  would  make  his  judgments  so 
terrible  as  to  inspire  awe  of  his  majesty  and  justice.  The  cattle  of 
a  city  given  to  idolatry  were  to  be  destroyed.  So  were  the  ani- 
mals in  some  of  those  most  wicked  cities  doomed  of  God  to  de- 
struction.  The  word  "  tents  "  should  have  been  "  camps,"  which 

is  the  sense  of  the  original — thur-  removing  the  incongruity  of  hav- 
ing these  animals  in  their  tents. 

16.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  every  one  that  is 
left  of  all  the  nations  which  came  against  Jerusalem, 
shall  even  go  up  from  year  to  year  to  worship  the  King, 
the  Lord  of  hosts,  and  to  keep  the  feast  of  tabernacles. 

The  slaughter  of  the  wicked  nations,  implied  in  v.  3,  and  terribly 
indicated  in  vs.  12,  13,  leaves  some  yet  living ;  how  many  relatively 
to  the  whole  number,  or  to  the  number  slain,  we  are  not  told.  But 
we  are  told  that  those  who  remain  shall  be  converted  to  God.  They 
now  come  up  to  Jerusalem,  no  longer  to  fight  against  her,  but  to 
worship  the  living  God  in  her  temple,  and  to  join  heart  and  hand  with 
the  Lord's  people.     They  are  changed  men — changed  from  sinners 

to  saints. The  Jewish  idea  of  a  convert  made  to  the  true  God 

in  distant  Gentile  lands  must  naturally  imply  that  he  will  come  up 
year  by  year  to  Jerusalem  to  worship  God  at  their  great  festivals. 
This  idea  fney  could  not  fail  to  carry  over  to  the  reign  of  their  ex- 
pected Messiah.  Prophecy  makes  him  a  second  David,  the  great 
successor  on  David's  throne,  to  reign  over  all  the  nations  from  that 
great  central  metropolis  of  his  kingdom.  It  remains  for  us  to 
translate  this  Old  Testament  phraseology  into  that  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, and  to  modify  those  ideas  which  were  the  natural,  not  to  say 
necessary,  outgrowth  of  the  ancient  dispensation,  and  make  them  cor- 
respond to  the  new  type  of  things  established  by  our  Lord  and  his 
apostles.  So  modified,  we  no  longer  think  of  converts  in  the  ends 
of  the  earth  making  their  annual  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem  to  keep 


ZECIIAMAH.— CHAP.  XIV.  379 

her  holy  feasts  and  to  worship  Jehovah  there.  We  understand 
that  every  living  Christian  heart  is  God's  temple,  and  that  every  sin- 
cere worshipper  is  accepted  in  the  New  Mediator  of  the  better  cove- 
nant.  This  passage,  then,  interpreted  in  harmony  with  New  Tes- 
tament doctrines  and  ideas,  predicts  the  conversion  of  most  if  not 
all  the  ungodly  who  survive  the  fearful  judgments  already  referred 
to. That  out  of  the  three  great  annual  festivals,  the  feast  of  tab- 
ernacles should  be  selected,  is  due  to  its  special  adaptation  to  the 
times.  It  was  the  national  thanksgiving  for  God's  favors  in  the 
fruits  of  the  year,  and  was  also  a  grateful  memorial  of  their  change 
from  a  wilderness  life,  forty  years  in  tents,  to  a  settled  rest  in  Ca- 
naan. Now  after  Zion  has  been  redeemed  from  her  sins,  made 
victorious  over  her  foes,  has  received  all  that  survive  of  them  to 
her  bosom  as  friends,  and  they  are  made  welcome  to  her  munificent 
blessings  from  her  King,  why  should  they  not  bring  up  their  an- 
nual offerings  of  thanksgiving  and  praise  ? Isaiah  (GQ  :  23)  names 

the  "  new  moons  and  the  Sabbaths "  as  the  periods  at  which  all 
flesh  should  come  up  to  worship  before  the  Lord — showing,  when 
compared  with  this  statement  by  Zechariah,  that  a  literal  coming 
is  not  thought  of  by  the  Spirit  of  inspiration.  The  essential 
idea  is  expressed  as  well  by  one  form  of  statement  as  by  the 
Other.  This  idea  is,  that  all  the  people  of  the  earth  will  worship 
the  true  God  in  the  modes  of  his  own  appointment,  as  Christ  taught 
the  woman  of  Samaria  (John  4  :  20-24),  and  as  the  converted  Jews 
were  taught  (Heb.,  chapters  7-10). 

IT.  And  it  shall  be,  that  whoso  will  not  come  up  of 
all  the  families  of  the  earth  unto  Jerusalem  to  worship 
the  King,  the  Lokd  of  hosts,  even  upon  them  shall  be 
no  rain. 

This  curse  is  entirely  in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  the 
ancient  Theocracy  which  promised  rain  to  the  people  if  obedient, 
but  threatened  to  withhold  it  if  they  turned  aside  to  idols.     (See 

Deut.  11 :  13-17.) The  ancient  economy  provided  for  retribution 

in  the  present  world  sufficiently  full  and  sure  to  make  the  sense  of 
it  effective  in  those  early  ages,  and  to  minister  to  an  intelligent  faith 

in  God's  actual  government  of  the  world. The  previous  verse 

speaks  of  "nations;"  this,  particularly,  of  "families,"  because  it 
was  by  families  that  the  Hebrew  people  came  up  to  Jerusalem  on 
their  great  annual  festivals. 

18.  And  if  the  family  of  Egypt  go  not  up,  and  come 
not,  that  have  no  rain/  there  shall  be  the  plague,  where- 
with the  Loud  will  smite  the  heathen  that  come  not  up 
to  keep  the  feast  of  tabernacles. 

It  is  not  entirely  clear  why  the  family  of  Egypt  is  specified  here. 
We  naturally  think  the  reason  to  be  that  no  rain  ever  falls  in  por- 
tions of  that  country,  and  therefore,  since  this  plague  would  not 


380  ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.   XIV. 

touch  them,  another  of  special  sort  would  be  provided.  But  the 
Hebrew  clause,  which  reads  in  our  version,  "  that  have  no  rain,"  is 
elliptical,  and  therefore  quite  indefinite,  since  it  may  be  supplied 
either  thus :  'Upon  whom  rain  does  not  (usually)  fall ;    or  thus : 

Upon  them  shall  be  no  rain. The  general  sense,  however,  is 

plain,  viz.,  that  Egypt  shall  be  no  exception  to  the  general  law.  If 
they  go  not  up,  the  same  plagues  shall  fall  on  them  for  this  neglect 
as  on  other  nations.  The  fact  is,  that  the  failure  of  rain  around 
the  head- waters  of  the  Nile  is  as  fatal  to  Egypt  as  the  failure  of  rain 

in  other  countries. Let  it  be  noted  that  these  threatened  plagues 

(vs.  17,  18)  do  not  of  necessity  imply  that  any  families  will  refuse 
to  go  up  to  worship  the  Lord  of  hosts.  They  may  only  show  that 
men  are  still  moral  agents,  acted  upon  by  fear  and  hope,  and  made 
responsible  for  their  free  moral  acts.  The  assurance  (v.  16)  that 
"  every  one  that  is  left  of  all  the  nations  shall  go  up"  needs  no 
abatement  because  of  this  threatened  plague  on  whomsoever  shall 
not  go.  Yet  it  must  be  admitted  that  this  language  may  purposely 
imply  that  there  will  be  even  in  that  glorious  day  some  still  per- 
sistent enemies  of  God  upon  whom  his  judgments  shall  actually 
fall. 

19.  This  shall  be  the  punishment  of  Egypt,  and  the 
punishment  of  all  nations  that  come  not  up  to  keep  the 
feast  of  tabernacles. 

Sin  is  the  more  usual  sense  of  the  word  here  rendered  "punish- 
ment,'1 but  the  course  of  thought  seems  to  demand  the  sense  of 
punishment.     "This"  (*.  £.,  the  withholding  of  rain)  shall  be  the 

punishment  of  all  who  do  not  come  up  to  this  feast. Hengstcn- 

berg,  giving  the  word  the  sense  of  sin,  makes  the  passage  mean  that 
the  chief  sin,  the  test  sin,  the  one  specially  noticed  and  punished,  is 
this  of  not  going  up,  &c.  But  to  make  out  this  sense,  the  passage 
should  read — "  This  not  going  up  to  the  feast  of  tabernacles,  shall 
be  the  test  sin  of  all  the  nations  " — a  very  different  statement  from 
this  which  the  verse  does  make. 

20.  In  that  clay  shall  there  be  upon  the  bells  of  the 
horses,  HOLINESS  UNTO  THE  LOUD ;  and  the 
pots  in  the  Lord's  house  shall  be  like  the  bowls  before 
the  altar. 

21.  Yea,  every  pot  in  Jerusalem  and  in  Judah  shall 
be  holiness  unto  the  Lord  of  hosts :  and  all  they  that 
sacrifice  shall  come  and  take  of  them,  and  seethe  there- 
in :  and  in  that  day  there  shall  be  no  more  the  Canaanite 
in  the  house  of  the  Lord  of  hosts. 

That  holiness  to  the  Lord  shall  be  not  only  very  pure,  but  widely 
extended,  is  taught  here  by  three  distinct  statements:  (1.)  Things 
that  have  no  special  sanctity,  e.  g.y  bells  on  horses,  shall  be  conse- 


ZECHARIAH.— CHAF.  XIV.  381 

crated  as  altogether  holy. (2.)  The  less  sacred  things  about  the 

temple  shall  become  as  holy  as  those  most  sacred  were  wont  to  be, 
e.  </.,  common  pots  for  cooking  food  shall  become  no  less  sacred  than 
the  bowls  which  received  the  blood  of  animals  slain  in  sacrifice  ;  the 

latter  being  of  old  accounted  most  holy,  the  former  least  so. 

(3.)  The  Canaanites  shall  be  no  more  in  the  Lord's  temple. Ca- 

naanite  was  the  common  Hebrew  word  for  trafficker,  merchant — a 
business  in  bad  repute  among  the  Hebrews  because  so  much  asso- 
ciated with  fraud  and  deceit.     See  Hos.  12  :  7,  8. There  is  special 

force  in  the  allusion  to  the  bells  upon  the  horses  because  the  He- 
brew law  and  Hebrew  sentiment  had  a  prejudice  against  horses,  as 
associated  with  pride  and  vain  show;  with  reliance  also  on  some 
other  power  than  God,  and  with  wa/r.  This  prejudice  was  all  the 
stronger  because  their  most  powerful  enemies  came  upon  them  with 
a  strong  force  of  cavalry  and  chariots ;  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
their  own  kings  were  forbidden  to  multiply  horses.  (See  Deut. 
17:16.)  The  pious  Psalmist  said,  "  Some  trust  in  chariots  and  some 
in  horsemen ;  we,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  our  God."  The  pious  in 
Hos.  14 :  3,  say,  "  We  will  not  ride  upon  horses."  But  now,  in  the 
purity  of  the  millennial  age,  even  the  bells,  mere  ornaments  on  the 
horses,  shall  bear  the  same  inscription  as  the  ancient  breast-plate 
worn  by  the  high  priest — "  Holiness  to  the  Lord."  How  exceed- 
ingly expressive  of  the  absolute  and  universal  consecration  of  all 

things  to  the  service  and  worship  of  the  one  all-glorious  God ! 

So  also  is  the  last  clause  rich  in  its  special  significance.  When  we 
consider  how  much  the  love  of  "  filthy  lucre  "  has  polluted  the 
sanctuary,  both  under  the  Mosaic  and  throughout  the  Christian  age, 
it  is  a  relief  to  feel  that  in  the  good  time  coming,  "  there  shall  be  no 
more  the  Canaanite  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  of  hosts."  No  more 
shall  men  carry  the  spirit  of  gain  into  the  gospel  ministry.  No 
more  shall  dishonesty  and  overreaching  for  pelf  pollute  the  Church 
of  God. 

Reviewing  briefly  the  course  of  thought  in  this  entire  chapter,  I 
call  renewed  attention  to  the  following  points:  (1.)  The  whole 
chapter  must  be  taken  as  figurative,  and  not  literal.  The  literal 
sense,  implying  the  actual  cleaving  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  the 
escape  of  half  the  population  of  the  city  through  its  cleft  bowels ; 
two  literal  rivers  flowing  from  Jerusalem,  one  east  and  the  other 
west ;  all  the  mountains  in  the  world  levelled  down  to  plains,  save 
the  one  on  which  Jerusalem  and  its  temple  shall  stand ;  all  the  na- 
tions coming  up  to  Jerusalem  yearly  to  the  feast  of  tabernacles ; 
Judaism  with  its  bloody  sacrifices  enjoined  on  all  the  Gentile  world, 
despite  of  the  whole  New  Testament  to  the  contrary :.  such  things, 
supposed  to  take  place  literally,  are  simply  incredible  and  absurd. 
Some  of  them,  if  they  were  to  take  place  literally,  would  inevitably 
defeat  their  own  ends.  All  would  defeat  and  crush  out  New  Testa- 
ment Christianity.  There  can  be  no  sufficient  reasons  for  giving 
this  chapter  a  literal  construction. (2.)  I  have  studiously  ab- 
stained from  the  attempt  to  determine  and  define  the  fulfilment  of 


382  ZECHARIAH.— CHAP.   XIV. 

any  minute  feature  in  this  grouping  of  Hebrew  figures,  because  I 
have  no  'faith  in  such  attempts.  When  these  things  shall  be  ful- 
filled ;  in  what  precise  form  the  wicked  shall  assail  the  Church  of 
God ;  how  many  of  them  shall  be  cut  off  by  the  plagues  of  the 
Lord,  and  how  many  shall  remain  to  be  converted — these  points, 
and  such  as  these,  I  think  it  wise  to  make  no  attempt  to  determine. 
Ungodliness  has  its  group  of  specific  forms  to-day ;  who  can  tell 
whether  they  will  change  essentially  before  this  general  onslaught 
upon  Zion  ?  The  world  has  long  since  passed  the  besieging  of  the  lit- 
eral Jerusalem,  as  leing  herself  the  Lord's  Zion  ;  probably  has  passed 
the  era  of  religious  wars,  avowedly  to  destroy  Christianity.  But 
stern  conflicts  with  Satan  and  his  human  aids  await  the  kingdom  of 

Christ  ere  its  great  and  final  victory. (3.)  In  the  exposition  of  this 

chapter  the  first  main  inquiry  should  be — How  would  the  Jews  of 
Zechariah's  time  understand  it?  What  would  be  the  general  impres- 
sion made  upon  them  by  this  grouping  of  Jewish  images  and  ideas  ? 
Would  not  they  hail  this  chapter  as  God's  word  of  promise,  that 
the  worship  of  their  own  Jehovah  would  one  day  become  universal ; 
that  their  old  enemies  would  first  be  greatly  reduced  in  numbers  by 
fearful  plagues,  and  the  remnant  be  converted  to  the  living  God, 
and  that  then  the  worship  of  God  would  become  pure  and  substan- 
tially universal?  They  could  make  of  it  nothing  less  than  this.  No 
other  language  could  express  these  points  more  surely  or  more 

forcibly  than  this. (4.)  Then  this  is  the  general  sense  of  the 

chapter.  For  it  was  written  to  be  read  and  to  be  understood 
by  the  Jews  of  his  time.  The  writer  of  it  was  himself  a  Jew,  writ- 
ing for  first  readers  who  were  Jews,  and  therefore  he  used  and 

could  use  only  Jewish  terms  and  figures. The  general  sense  of 

these  figures  we  get  from  that  ancient  economy.  It  only  remains 
(as  already  said)  that  we  translate  Jewish  into  Christian  terms, 
Jewish  symbols  into  Christian  thought  and  meaning,  and  we  have 
the  truth  which  the  Lord  hath  taught  us  with  so  much  clearness, 

beauty,  and  force  in  this  chapter. Let  the  name  of  the  Lord  be 

praised  for  such  and  so  much  light  upon  the  otherwise  unknown 
future  of  his  earthly  Zion  !  We  will  bless  his  name,  not  only  that 
lie  has  formed  such  purposes  of  loving-kindness — not  only  that  he 
has  determined  to  bring  all  the  nations  of  men  to  live  joyfully  be- 
neath Messiah's  sceptre,  but  that  he  has  revealed  to  us  this  purpose, 
and  delineated  in  such  forms  of  beauty  and  joy  the  glorious  future 
which  awaits  Messiah's  kingdom  among  men. 


MALAOHI 


INTRODUCTION. 

Of  this  prophet  we  have  no  personal  history.  The  book  gives 
ns  only  his  name,  and  over  even  this  there  hangs  a  doubt  in  some 
minds  whether  it  he  a  proper  name,  or  whether  it  designates  some 
unknown  person  as  "my  messenger,"  the  original  being  the  same 
as  is  translated  thus  (chap.  3:1):  "Behold,  I  send  my  messenger," 
&c.  I  take  it,  however,  to  be  a  proper  name,  because  every  other 
prophetical  book  gives  the  real  name  of  its  author ;  because  a  name 
and  a  personal  character  were  essential  as  credentials ;  and  because 
the  other  view  ("  my  messenger  ")  gives  us  no  light  whatever  as  to 
the  author,  in  the  very  place  where  we  have  a  right  to  expect  it. 
By  the  universal  consent  of  biblical  critics,  he  was  the  latest  known 
prophet.  The  internal  evidence  leaves  scarcely  a  doubt  that  he 
was  contemporary  with  Nehemiah's  last  visit  to  Judea,  aiding  him 
in  his  work  of  correcting  the  abuses  which  had  gained  a  footing 
among  the  people.  A  careful  comparison  of  the  Book  of  Malachi 
with  Nehemiah  13  :  7-31  exhibits  the  same  flagrant  sins  as  prevail- 
ing in  each,  e.  (/.,  intermarriages  with  foreigners,  even  in  the  case 
of  the  priests  (Mi.  13:28-30  with  Mai.  2:7-16);  neglect  of 
tithes  (Web.  13  :  10-13  with  Mai.  3  :  7-10);  violation  of  the  Sab- 
bath and  of  religious  worship  generally  (Neh.  13  :  15-22  with 
Mai.  1 :  13  and  2  :  8).  Hence  it  appears  highly  probable  that  Mala- 
chi cooperated  with  Nehemiah  in  his  last  reformation,  as  Isaiah  did 
with  Hezekiah,  and  Jeremiah  with  Josiah.  The  civil  ruler  would 
greatly  need  the  aid  of  some  earnest  and  pure-minded  prophet  in 
such  a  work.     The  Lord  took  care  to  provide  it. The  precise 


384  MALACHL— CHAP.  I. 

date  of  this  last  visit  of  Nehemiah  is  a  question  of  some  historic 
interest,  inasmuch  as  it  is  the  date  of  the  latest  inspired  Old  Testa- 
ment history  and  prophecy.  The  following  brief  synopsis  of  his- 
toric dates  is  supposed  to  be  proximately  correct.  It  may  aid  the 
reader  to  locate  these  events  in  time,  and  fix  their  connections  with 
profane  history.  (1.)  The  first  captives  returned  under  Zerubbabel,  in 
the  first  year  of  Cyrus,  b.  o.  536.  (2.)  Fifty-eight  years  after,  Ezra 
went  up  to  Jerusalem,  in  the  seventh  year  of  Xerxes  (called  Artax- 
erxes,  Ezra  7:1,  7),  b.  c.  478.  (3.)  Neheniiah's  first  visit  was  yet 
thirty-four  years  later,  viz.,  in  the  twentieth  year  of  Artaxerxes  Lon- 
gimanus,  b.  c.  444.  (4.)  After  twelve  years'  stay  in  Judea,  Nehe- 
miah  returned  to  Babylon  in  the  thirty-second  year  of  this  same 
king,  b.  c.  432.  (5.)  The  date  of  his  second  visit  to  Judea  is  proba- 
bly twenty-four  years  subsequent,  i.  e.,  in  b.  o.  408,  although  it  may 
have  been  less.  Some  critics  fix  it  b.  o.  423,  after  an  interval  of 
only  nine  years  instead  of  twenty-four.  The  interval  must  have 
been  long  enough  for  the  introduction  of  grievous  abuses,  for 
intermarriages  with  foreigners,  and  births  from  those  marriages, 
and  children  old  enough  to  speak  "  according  to  the  language  of 
each  people."  The  data  do  not  suffice  for  a  more  precise  determi- 
nation of  the  time.  This,  however,  is  near  enough  for  all  practical 
purposes.  Not  far  from  four  hundred  years  before  Christ,  this  last 
in  the  long  series  of  inspired  prophets  united  his  efforts  with  those 
of  Nehemiah  to  call  back  the  apostate  people  to  their  forsaken 
God,  to  rebuke  them  for  their  great  sins,  and  to  animate  the  believ- 
ing portion  by  some  very  distinct  and  precious  promises  of  the  con- 
version of  the  Gentiles ;  of  the  coming  of  the  glorious  Lord,  "  the 
Messenger  of  the  covenant,"  to  his  earthly  temple  ;  and  also  of  the 
coming  of  John  Baptist,  here  designated  as  "  my  messenger  who 
shall  prepare  the  way  before  me,"  and  as  "  Elijah  the  prophet." 


CnAPTEE  I. 

To  show  the  people  their  great  guilt,  the  Lord  testifies  to  his 
special  love  for  their  nation,  particularly  as  compared  with  the  pos- 
terity of  Esau  (vs.  2-5) ;  rebukes  the  priests  for  their  contempt  of 
his  worship  (vs.  6-10) ;  assures  them  that  he  will  find  countless  sin- 
cere worshippers  among  the  heathen  (v.  11) ;  exposes  and  denounces 
their  heinous  sins  (vs.  12-14). 

1.  The  burden  of  the  word  of  the  Lokd  to  Israel  by 
Malachi. 


MALACHL— CHAP.   I.  38£ 

This  prophecy,  as  a  whole,  comprises  so  much  rebuke  for  sin 
and  threatening  of  judgment,  that  it  may  fitly  be  called  a  "  burden  " 
in  the  usual  sense — sins  and  judgments,  which  it  is  a  heart-burden 
to  think  of  and  to  reveal. 

2.  I  have  loved  yon,  saith  the  Lord.  Yet  ye  say, 
Wherein  hast  thou  loved  ns  ?  Was  not  Esan  Jacob's 
brother  ?  saith  the  Lord  :  yet  I  loved  Jacob, 

3.  And  I  hated  Esau,  and  laid  his  mountains  and  his 
heritage  waste  for  the  dragons  of  the  wilderness. 

A  view  of  the  love  sinned  against  deepens  the  sense  of  guilt. 
As  one  who  appreciates  this  law  of  our  moral  nature,  the  Lord  be- 
gins his  endeavors  to  convict  the  Jews  of  sin  by  setting  before 
them  the  special  love  he  had  borne  for  their  nation  ever  since  Ja- 
cob was  chosen  to  be  the  heir  of  his  promises  and  Esau  was  re- 
jected.  This  hating  of  Esau  was  rather  a  not-loving,  and  looks 

es^cially  to  the  fact  that  God  rejected  him  from  being  the  heir  of 
thrpromiscs  made  to  Abraham  and  Isaac.  The  history  shows  that 
Esau  did  not  value  the  inheritance  of  those  promises.  The  writer 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  calls  him  "that  profane  person,"  as 
if  to  intimate  that  his  rejection  was  not  an  arbitrary  act  of  God  in 

the  sense  of  being  irrespective  of  Esau's  ill  desert. As  to  the 

words  "  I  hated  Esau,"  let  it  be  carefully  noted  that  God's  hatred 
is  never  malign  and  never  causeless. The  "  laying  of  his  moun- 
tains and  heritage  waste  "  was  done  soon  after  the  fall  of  Jerusa- 
lem before  the  Chaldean  arms,  and  by  the  same  power. 

4.  Whereas  Edom  saith,  We  are  impoverished,  but 
we  will  return  and  build  the  desolate  places ;  thus  saith 
the  Lord  of  hosts,  They  shall  build,  but  I  will  throw 
down ;  and  they  shall  call  them,  The  border  of  wicked- 
ness, and,  The  people  against  whom  the  Loud  hath  in- 
dignation for  ever. 

5.  And  your  eyes  shall  see,  and  ye  shall  say,  The 
Lord  will  be  magnified  from  the  border  of  Israel. 

Edom  resolutely  determined  to  rebuild ;  the  Lord  as  resolutely 
to  cast  down.     The  Lord,  and  not  Edom,  triumphed  in  this  conflict. 

Men  in  general,  the  voice  of  the  nations,  "  shall  call  them  the 

border  of  wickedness,"  i.  e.,  the  wicked  country,  the  people  against 
whom  Jehovah's  wrath  burns  forever.  Their  sins  had  been  so  base 
and  so  notorious  that  all  mankind  would  appreciate  the  reasons  of 
God's  wrath  against  them. Ye  shall  say,  "  Let  the  Lord  be  mag- 
nified by  all  the  people  of  Israel ;  "  let  his  praise  come  forth  from 
that  whole  country.  It  behooved  all  the  Jews  to  extol  the  justice 
of  God  in  sending  such  retribution  upon  Edom. 

6.  A  son  honoreth  his  father,  and  a  servant  his  mas- 

17 


386  MALACHI.— CHAP.  I. 

ter :  if  then  I  he  a  father,  where  is  mine  honor  ?  and  if 
I  he  a  master,  where  is  my  fear  ?  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts 
nnto  you,  O  priests,  that  despise  my  name.  And  ye 
say,  Wherein  have  we  despised  thy  name  ? 

This  reasoning  from  the  honor  due  and  usually  accorded  to  a 
father,  is  full  of  force  as  applied  to  the  great  God.  How  much 
more  a  Father  is  he  than  any  of  these  "fathers  of  our  flesh,"  and 
how  much  greater !  Most  forcibly,  therefore,  does  he  demand  from 
us,  "Where  is  my  honor?"  "Where  is  my  fear  V This  ap- 
peal was  made  with  special  pertinence  to  the  priests,  to  whom  God 
had  given  high  responsibilities  and  ample  means  of  knowing  his 

name  and  his  love. "  Yet  ye  say,  Wherein  have  we  despised 

thy  name  ?  "  This  is  the  first  case  out  of  many  in  which  the  priests 
retort  the  charge  made  against  them,  daring  the  prophet  or  the 
Lord  to  the  proof!  It  is  the  rankest  pride  and  self-justification. 
It  may  well  amaze  us  that  a  priesthood  so  enlightened  should  be- 
come so  fearfully  corrupt,  so  rotten  morally,  so  blind  to  their  omn 
past  and  present  sins !  ^' 

7.  Ye  offer  polluted  bread  upon  mine  altar ;  and  ye 
say,  "Wherein  have  we  polluted  thee  ?  In  that  ye  say, 
The  table  of  the  Lord  is  contemptible. 

8.  And  if  ye  offer  the  blind  for  sacrifice,  is  it  not 
evil  ?  and  if  ye  offer  the  lame  and  sick,  is  it  not  evil  ? 
offer  it  now  unto  thy  governor ;  will  he  be  pleased  with 
thee,  or  accept  thy  person  ?  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts. » 

The  ceremonial  law  specified,  with  almost  extreme  precision, 
what  offerings  should  be  made  and  how  prepared,  laying  the  great- 
est stress  on  their  being  the  very  best  of -their  kind.  The  signifi- 
cance of  this  is  obvious.  No  greater  insult  could  be  offered  to  God 
than  to  turn  him  off  with  the  refuse  of  their  flocks  and  herds,  and 
with  polluted  bread  for  his  altar !  Yet  this  the  priests  of  that  day 
had  done,  and  moreover  seemed  still  to  have  no  sense  of  their  hor- 
rible sin!  Forcibly  does  the  Lord  say,  "Offer  such  presents  to 
your  governor;  will  he  feel  himself  honored?  "  Alas  !  many  a  hu- 
man heart  ought  to  be  smitten  with  a  sense  of  its  sins  against  the 
glorious  Jehovah,  in  having  constantly  withheld  from  him  the  best 
of  its  love,  homage,  and  service,  and  in  doling  out  only  the  meanest, 
cheapest  offerings,  in  a  way  which  signifies  that  the  heart  does  not 
intend  to  give  the  least  thing  in  real  love  to  the  good  and  glorious 
God! 

9.  And  now,  I  pray  you,  beseech  God  that  he  will 
be  gracious  unto  us :  this  hath  been  by  your  means  :  will 
he  regard  your  persons  ?  saith  the  Loed  of  hosts. 

The  clause,  "  this  hath  been  by  your  means,"  seems  to  refer  to 


MALACHL— CHAP.  I.  3  £7 

the  deplorably  low  state  of  piety  and  of  divine  worship,  and  to 
charge  the  cause  of  it  to  the  priests,  and  on  this  ground  implore 
them  to  repent  and  conciliate  the  favor  of  God. 

10.  "Who  is  there  even  among  yon  that  would  shut 
the  doors  for  nought?  neither  do  ye  kindle  fire  on  mine 
altar  for  nought.  I  have  no  pleasure  in  yon,  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts,  neither  will  I  accept  an  offering  at  yonr 
hand. 

The  service  they  did  render  was  done  in  supreme  selfishness,  for 
they  would  not  even  close  the  doors  of  the  temple  or  kindle  the 
fire  upon  the  altar,  without  special  pay  for  it.  So  utterly  merce- 
nary and  heartless  had  they  become  in  all  their  religious  duties ! 
No  wonder  the  Lord  declares  to  them,  "  I  have  no  pleasure  in 
you !  "  The  pure,  loving  heart  is  above  all  things  else  first  and 
highest  in  his  esteem ;  it  might  almost  be  said  to  be  all  he  cares 
for ;  without  it,  all  else  goes  for  nothing. 

11.  For  from  the  rising  of  the  snn  even  nnto  the 
going  down  of  the  same,  my  name  shall  he  great  among 
the  Gentiles ;  and  in  every  place  incense  shall  he  offered 
nnto  my  name,  and  a  pure  offering :  for  my  name  shall 
he  great  among  the  heathen,  saith  the  Loed  of  hosts. 

The  logical  connection,  indicated  by  the  word  "for"  should  be 
distinctly  noted.  The  Lord  would  say  to  those  corrupt  priests — 
You  have  no  heart  in  my  worship ;  you  make  it  contemptible  be 
fore  the  people  ;  your  whole  heart  is  meanly  selfish  ;  T  cannot  ac- 
cept such  worship,  and  I  have  no  occasion  to  do  so.  You  greatly 
mistake  if  you  suppose  that  I  am  in  such  need  that  I  shall  thank- 
fully accept  at  your  hand  such  miserably  poor  service.  I  have 
other  and  far  purer  sendee  coming  in  from  the  Gentile  nations,  upon 
whom  you  are  looking  down  with  haughty  scorn,  "for  from  the  rising 
of  the  sun  even  to  the  going  down  of  the  same,  my  name  shall  be 
great  among  the  Gentiles  "  (not  cast  out  as  vile,  after  the  manner 
of  your  devotions).  "In.  every  place"  (not  in  Jerusalem  alone) 
"  incense  shall  be  offered  to  my  name  and  a  pure  "  (not  a  polluted) 
offering ;  "  for  my  name  "  (winch  you  have  despised,  v.  6)  "  shall  be 

great  among  the  heathen,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts." Sublimely 

glorious  promise  !  Its  outlook  into  the  Christian  age  is  truly  won- 
derful. That  great  change  wrought  out  under  the  apostles,  by 
which  the  pure  worship  of  God  passed  from  Jewish  to  Gentile 

hands  and  hearts,  is  here  most  clearly  indicated. Let  it  be  noted 

also  that  more  is  here  than  the  world  has  yet  seen.  The  sweep  of 
the  gospel  has  never  yet  ranged  from  the  rising  to  the  setting  sun. 
"  Incense  and  a  pure  offering  "  have  not  yet  been  offered  "  in  every 
place."  The  glorious  name  of  Jehovah  has  not  yet  become  "  great 
among  all  the  heathen." But  all  these  things  shall  yet  be!     Let 


388  MALACHI.— CHAP.  II. 

all  hearts  liail  the  coming  day!     And  let  all  hands  hasten  it  on- 
ward ! 

12.  But  ye  have  profaned  it,  in  that  ye  say,  The 
table  of  the  Lord  is  polluted ;  and  the  fruit  thereof,  even 
his  meat,  is  contemptible. 

13.  Ye  said  also,  Behold,  what  a  weariness  is  it !  and 
ye  have  snuffed  at  it,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts ;  and  ye 
brought  that  which  was  torn,  and  the  lame,  and  the  sick  ; 
thus  ye  brought  an  offering :  should  I  accept  this  of  your 
hand  ?  saith  the  Lord. 

14.  But  cursed  he  the  deceiver,  which  hath  in  his 
flock  a  male,  and  voweth,  and  sacrificeth  unto  the  Lord 
a  corrupt  thing :  for  I  am  a  great  King,  saith  the  Lord 
of  hosts,  and  my  name  is  dreadful  among  the  heathen. 

The  prophet  returns  again  to  the  sins  of  the  priests,  exposing 
and  rebuking  them  with  deserved  severity.  Who  can  wonder  that 
the  curse  of  Jehovah  falls  on  such  priests  and  on  all  such  worshippers 
at  his  altar?     How  can  he  regard  it  as  better  than  intended  insult  ? 

Verily  God  is  too  great,  and  too  holy  to  be  so  contemned ! 

"Woe  to  the  man  who  offers  such  abuse  to  the  Great  King  whose 
"  name  is  dreadful  among  the  heathen !  " 


CHAPTER    II. 

The  corrupt  priests  are  specially  exhorted,  rebuked,  and  threat- 
ened (vs.  1-9) ;  the  sin  of  practically  divorcing  their  Jewish  wives 
and  marrying  heathen  women  is  condemned  (vs.  10-16)  ;  and  finally 
the  priests  are  rebuked  for  denying  the  justice  of  God  in  his  prov- 
idential government  (v.  17). 

1.  And  now,  O  ye  priests,  this  commandment  is  for 
you. 

2.  If  ye  will  not  hear,  and  if  ye  will  not  lay  it  to 
heart,  to  give  glory  unto  my  name,  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts,  I  will  even  send  a  curse  upon  you,  and  I  will 
curse  your  blessings ;  yea,  I  have  cursed  them  already, 
because  ye  do  not  lay  it  to  heart. 

The  priests  had  been  deeply  guilty  in  the  great  apostasy  of  that 
age.  They  had  not  only  failed  altogether  to  teach  the  people 
faithfully  and  truly  for  God,  but  they  had  fearfully  seduced  them 
into  sin  by  their  pernicious  example.  Hence  the  prophet  gives 
them  to  understand  very  explicitly  that  this  message  of  command 


MALACHL— CHAP.  II.  389 

and  rebuke  is  for  them. The  threatening  is  not  merely  "I  will 

send  a  curse"— some  unknown,  indefinite  curse— but  the  curse  (so 
heorVnalhas  it),  referring  doubtlesstoDeut  27: 14-20,  -  And  the 
Levites  shall  say  unto  all  the  men  of  Israel  with  a  oud  voice  Cui-sed 
be  he  "  &c,  "  and  all  the  people  shall  say,  Amen !  To  this  fearful 
catalogue  of  twelve  curses  the  prophet  must  lave  referred,— -To 
«  curse  your  blessings  »  is  to  change  them  to  curses.— -The  clause 
rendered  "yea,  I  have  cursed  them  already,"  &c,  should  read, 
''  vea  I  will  curse  each  one  of  them."  The  tense  is  the  same, 
as  in  the  preceding  clause.  There  is  no  authority  for  the  sense 
"  already ." 

3  Behold  I  will  corrupt  your  seed,  and  spread  dung 
upon  your  faces,  even  the  dung  of  your  solemn  feasts ; 
and  one  shall  take  you  away  with  it. 

"I  will  rebuke  your  seed  sown,"  implies  that  he  will  forbid  its 

coming  to  maturity. The  spreading  of  dung  upon  their  faces 

must  imply  a  doom  both  publicly  disgraceful  and  intrinsically 
loathsome.  Themselves  shall  be  thrown  out  and  borne  away  with 
the  offal  of  their  sacrifices,  in  one  promiscuous  mass. 

4  And  ye  shall  know  that  I  have  sent  this  com- 
mandment unto  you,  that  my  covenant  might  be  with 
Levi,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts. 

I  take  this  verse  to  mean— Ye  shall  know  in  your  own  ex- 
perience that  I  make  this  last  effort  to  save  you  in  order  that  my 
covenant  may  still  be  as  of  old  with  Levi,  and  that  the  priesthood 
may  still  abide  in  honor  and  usefulness  with  my  blessing  upon  it, 
but  that  this  effort  shall  be  the  last  I 

5  My  covenant  was  with  him  of  life  and  peace ;  and 
I  gave  them  to  him  for  the  fear  wherewith  he  feared 
me,  and  was  afraid  before  my  name. 

This  seems  to  refer  to  some  events  in  the  early  history  of  Israel, 
in  which  the  tribe  of  Levi  manifested  a  special  regard  lor  the  name 
and  honor  of  God,  and  for  this  reason  was  honored  with  the  cove- 
nant of  ?he  perpetual  priesthood.  The  reference  may  be  either  to 
Ex  32  •  26-29,  or  to  Num.  25  :  7-13,  or  to  both.  In  the  former  case 
the"  whole  tribe  of  Levi  came  forth  promptly  to  the  call  of  Moses, 
«  Who  is  on  the  Lord's  side  ?  "  and  girding  on  each  man  his  sword, 
they dew  the  worshippers  of  the  golden  calf  wherever they .were^ 
sparing  not  even  a  brother,  companion,  or  neighbor.  To  tins  case 
Moses  reverts  (Dent.  33  :  9, 10)  in  his  last  blessing  upon  the  tribes  . 
-Who  Sid  unto  his  father'  and  to  his  mother,  I  have  not  seen  him, 
neither  did  he  acknowledge  his  brethren,  nor  know  his  own  chil- 
dren' for  they  have  observed  thy  words,  and  kept  thy  covenant 
They  sball  teach  Jacob  thy  judgments,  and  Israel  thy  aw  ;  they ■  rfudl 
put  incense  before  thee,"  &c. The  other  case,  that  of  Phmeas 


390  MALACHL— CHAP.  II. 

(Num.  25),  did  not  pertain  so  directly  to  the  whole  tribe  of  Levi, 
and  yet  has  in  its  favor  the  fact  that  for  his  zeal  the  Lord  said  of 
him :  "  Behold  I  give  unto  him  my  covenant  of  peace,  and  he  shall 
have  it,  and  his  seed  after  him,  even  the  covenant  of  an  everlasting 
priesthood,  because  he  was  zealous  for  his  God,  and  made  an  atone- 
ment for  the  children  of  Israel."  The  latter  also  has  closer  relations 
with  the  priesthood,  while  the  former  concerned  the  whole  tribe  of 
Levi.     Very  probably  there  may  be  a  tacit  reference  to  both  cases. 

6.  The  law  of  truth  was  in  his  mouth,  and  ini- 
quity was  not  found  in  his  lips :  he  walked  with  me 
in  peace  and  equity,  and  did  turn  many  away  from 
iniquity. 

7.  For  the  priest's  lips  should  keep  knowledge,  and 
they  should  seek  the  law  at  his  mouth :  for  he  is  the 
messenger  of  the  Loed  of  hosts. 

In  the  outset  the  tribe  of  Levi  and  the  family  of  Aaron  were 
selected  because  of  their  fidelity  to  God  and  to  his  truth.  In  the 
early  times  of  the  nation  they  were  in  the  main  true  to  their  responsi- 
bilities, and  taught  the  people  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  faith- 
fully and  successfully.- — The  passage  shows  that  the  priests  were 
by  profession  the  public  teachers  of  religion,  and  performed  that 
service  until  they  became  too  corrupt.  Then  prophets  were  raised 
up  to  supply  in  some  measure  their  lack  of  service. 

8.  But  ye  are  departed  out  of  the  way;  ye  have 
caused  many  to  stumble  at  the  law  ;  ye  have  corrupted 
the  covenant  of  Levi,  saith  the  Loed  of  hosts. 

9.  Therefore  have  I  also  made  you  contemptible 
and  base  before  all  the  people,  according  as  ye  have  not 
kept  my  ways,  but  have  been  partial  in  the  law. 

The  original  puts  the  antithesis  forcibly  between  "  ye  "  (v.  8),  and 
"I "  (v.  9),  ye  departed  out  of  the  way  ;  "  therefore  /have  made  you 
contemptible  and  base  before  all  the  people."  Note  here  the  tiling 
signified  by  the  bold  figures  in  v.  3.  The  Lord  will  surely  take  away 
all  honor  from  the  priest  who  dishonors  God  and  disgraces  himself. 
"  They  that  despise  me  shall  be  lightly  esteemed." 

10.  Have  we  not  all  one  father  ?  hath  not  one  God 
created  us  ?  why  do  we  deal  treacherously  every  man 
against  his  brother,  by  profaning  the  covenant  of  our 
fathers  % 

11.  Juclah  hath  dealt  treacherously,  and  an  abomi- 
nation is  committed  in  Israel  and  in  Jerusalem;  for 
Judah  hath  profaned  the  holiness  of  the  Loed  which  he 
loved,  and  hath  married  the  daughter  of  a  strange  god. 


MALACHL— CHAR   II.  391 

12.  Tlie  Lord  will  cut  off  the  man  that  doeth  this, 
the  master  and  the  scholar,  out  of  the  tabernacles  of 
Jacob,  and  him  that  offereth  an  offering  unto  the  Lord 
of  hosts. 

13.  And  this  have  ye  done  again,  covering  the  altar 
of  the  Lord  with  tears,  with  weeping,  and  with  crying 
out,  insomuch  that  he  regardeth  not  the  offering  any 
more,  or  receiveth  it  with  good  will  at  your  hand. 

14.  Yet  ye  say,  Wherefore?  Because  the  Lord  hath 
been  witness  between  thee  and  the  wife  of  thy  youth, 
against  whom  thou  hast  dealt  treacherously :  yet  is  she 
thy  companion,  and  the  wife  of  thy  covenant. 

15.  And  did  not  he  make  one  %  Yet  had  he  the  res- 
idue of  the  Spirit.  And  wherefore  one  ?  That  he  might 
seek  a  godly  seed.  Therefore  take  heed  to  your  spirit, 
and  let  none  deal  treacherously  against  the  wife  of  his 
youth. 

16.  For  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  saith,  that  he 
hateth  putting  away  :  for  one  covereth  violence  with  his 
garment,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts :  therefore  take  heed  to 
your  spirit,  that  ye  deal  not  treacherously. 

This  passage  is  best  understood  when  considered  as  one  distinct 
and  entire  subject.  It  refers  to  the  sin  of  practically  or  actually 
putting  away  their  Hebrew  wives,  and  taking  wives  from  the  idola- 
trous heathen.  Even  the  priests  had  done  this ;  and,  indeed,  they 
seem  to  have  been  foremost*  (See  Neh.  13  :  23-29.) With  a  mas- 
terly hand  the  prophet  calls  their  attention  first  in  order  to  the 
very  highest  moral  considerations — to  their  obligations  to  God,  their 
common  Father,  which  bind  them  to  deal  faithfully  and  forbid 
them  to  deal  treacherously  against  their  fellow-beings,  children  of 
the  same  common  Father.  In  the  clause  "  every  man  against  his 
brother,"  &c,  the  thing  in  mind  is  the  obligation  that  binds  a  man 
to  fidelity  with  his  wife.     "  Brother  "  is  used  in  the  general  sense 

of  fellow-creature — one  who  is  a  child  of  the  same  Creator. 

"The  covenant  of  our  fathers"  is  the  covenant  of  marriage,  or- 
dained of  God,  and  given  first  to  the  common  father  of  our  race.  In 
the  clause  (v.  11)  "  Judah  hath  profaned  the  holiness  of  the  Lord 
which  he  loved,"  I  take  the  sense  to  be,  that  the  people  of  Judah 
had  abused  and  dishonored  the  sacredness  which  the  Lord  had  at- 
tached to  his  own  people  in  forbidding  intermarriages  with  the 
heathen,  and  requiring  them  to  marry  within  the  pale  of  the  cove- 
nant people.  The  Lord  had  felt  a  special  interest  in  this  law.  It 
recognized  a  certain  holiness  in  his  own  people  which  he  had 
valued  as  a  distinction  vital  to  the  preservation  of  morals  and  piety 


392  MALACHI.— CHAP.  II. 

among  them.  The  priests  and  people  had  profaned  this  sacredness 
by  marrying  the  daughters  of  strange  gods — heathen  idolatrous 

women. In  v.  12  it  is  said,  "  The  Lord  will  cut  off  the  man  that 

doeth  this,"  be  he  who  he  may.  This  is  the  ultimate  sense  of  the 
original  rendered,  uthe  master  and  the  scholar."  Its  proximate 
sense,  however,  is  not  "master  and  scholar,"  but  "the  waker  and 
the  answerer,"  with  reference  to  the  night-watch  of  the  priests  or 
Levites  in  the  temple  where  the  party  retiring  from  their  watch 
aroused  their  successors,  who  answered  to  their  call.  The  two 
parties  taken  together  might  include  all.  The  description  should 
apply  to  the  priests ;  this  does ;  and,  moreover,  follows  strictly  the 
sense  of  the  original. 

In  v.  13,  "done  this  again,"  means  ye  have  a  second  time  re- 
lapsed into  this  great  sin ;  the  first  time  being  that  great  apostasy 
from  which  they  were  reclaimed  under  Ezra.  (See  Ezra  9.)  This 
reform  seemed  for  the  time  to  be  thorough,  but  subsequently  the 

people  and  priests  apostatized  again. They  "  covered  the  altar 

of  God  with  tears,"  inasmuch  as  the  Hebrew  wives,  supplanted  in 
the  affections  of  their  husbands  by  heathen  wives,  fled  to  the  altar  to 
lay  their  case  before  the  God  of  their  fathers  there,  and  to  pour  out 
their  sorrows  into  his  ear,  and  their  tears  upon  his  altar.  Such 
scenes  as  these  touched  the  heart  of  God,  and  he  could  no  longer 
accept  the  offerings  brought  to  this  same  altar  by  these  adul- 
terous and  apostate  priests. The  self-justifying  priests  still  say, 

"Wherefore?"  "Why  should  God  repel  and  disown  us?  Is  it  for 
these  trivial  matters  pertaining  to  our  wives? The  prophet  an- 
swers: Because  the  Lord  became  a  witness  between  thee  and  the 
wife  of  thy  youth  on  the  day  of  thine  espousals ;  and  he  cannot  but 
mark,  and  marking,   abhor  thy  treachery  in  the  breach  of  that 

covenant. Pursuing  this  point  yet  further,  the  prophet  inquires, 

Did  not  the  Lord  create  one  woman,  and  one  only,  to  be  the  wife 
of  the  first  man  ?  Yet  he  had  the  residue  of  the  creative  Spirit,  and 
might  easily  have  made  for  Adam  another  wife,  or  even  a  score  of 
wives,  if  he  had  thought  it  best.  "Wherefore  did  he  limit  Adam  to 
one  wife  ?  The  reason  was,  he  sought  a  godly  seed.  His  heart  was 
on  securing  such  family  influences  as  would  avail  to  "  train  up  a 
child  in  the  way  he  should  go,"  and  he  knew  full  well  that  polyg- 
amy— the  presence  of  two  or  more  wives  in  the  same  household — 
must  utterly  forbid  such  moral  training.  No  godly  seed  can  be  ex- 
pected in  that  family  where  polygamy  is  forever  begetting  discord, 

jealousy,  and  every  tiling  immoral,  selfish,  and  ungodly. "For  the 

Lord  saith  he  hateth  divorce,"  which  implies  that  virtually,  if  not 
directly,  this  taking  of  foreign  wives  resulted  in  putting  away  their 
Hebrew  wives.  Very  probably  the  results  might  vary  somewhat ; 
for  some  Hebrew  wives  might  consent  for  a  time,  longer  or  shorter, 
to  be  crushed  down  and  trodden  under  foot ;  while  others  would 
not  brook  such  treatment  an  hour.  In  the  end,  the  usual  result 
would  be  the  expulsion  of  the  Hebrew  wife  from  the  household. 
In  the  next  clause,  the  word  "  garment  "  is  thought  to  mean 


MALACHL— CHAP.  II.  393 

wife.  Arabic  usage  favors  this  sense.  The  meaning  of  the  whole 
passage  would  then  he,  u  For  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  hateth 
divorce,  in  which  one  heaps  violence  upon  his  wife — covers  and 
buries  her  as  it  were  with  accumulated  wrongs  and  violent  assaults  " 
— a  sad,  dark  picture  of  the  domestic  scenes  attendant  upon  that 
monster  sin  of  divorcing  the  wife  of  one's  youth,  to  wed  one's  self 

to  a  foreign  idolatress. The  prophet  closes  with  repeating  the 

exhortation  to  take  heed  to  their  spirits  that  they  no  more  deal 
treacherously  with  the  wife  of  their  first  sacred  covenant. 

17.  Ye  have  wearied  the  Lord  with  your  words.  Yet 
ye  say,  Wherein  have  we  wearied  him  f  When  ye  say, 
Every  one  that  doeth  evil  is  good  in  the  sight  of  the 
Lord,  and  he  delight etli  in  them ;  or,  Where  ts  the  God 
of  judgment  ? 

The  essence  of  this  crime,  which  had  wearied  the  Lord  of 
hosts,  was  a  denial  of  his  justice  in  the  administration  of  his  moral 
government.  They  said,  "Every  one  that  doeth  evil  is  good  in  the 
sight  of  the  Lord,"  who  manifests  as  much  delight  in  them  as  in 
well-doers.  They  also  said,  with  the  same  implication,  "  Where  is 
the  God  of  just  judgment?" — implying,  We  know  not  where  he  is. 
Hence  it  must  he  inferred  that  the  horrible  sins  of  the  priests  in  con- 
temning the  worship  of  God,  offering  polluted  offerings,  and  putting 
away  their  Hebrew  wives  to  marry  heathen  idolaters,  had  at  bot- 
tom a  deep  apostasy  in  principle  and  theory  from  the  living  God. 
They  had  ceased  to  vindicate  the  ways  of  God  to  man  ;  had  ceased 
to  think  and  speak  well  of  his  government ;  had  ceased  to  regard 

him  as  holy,  just,  and  good. But  it  need  not  be  supposed  that 

they  had  forsaken  his  worship  and  gone  thus  into  sin  because  they 
had  first  reached  the  conclusion  intelligently  that  he  was  unworthy 
of  their  regard.  By  no  means.  The  reverse  order  is  almost  if  not 
quite  universal.  Sins  of  the  heart  and  of  the  life,  long  cherished, 
create  a  demand  in  the  mind,  and  especially  before  the  conscience, 
for  false  notions  of  God  to  serve  as  a  quietus  to  the  conscience. 
Men  first  have  evil  deeds;  then  necessarily  love  darkness  more  than 
light  for  their  convenience  and  comfort  in  their  evil  ways;  and  then 
their  love  of  darkness  leads  them  on  to  any  conceivable  absurdities 

of  error. The  developments  of  this  Book  of  Malachi  reveal  an 

appalling  depth  of  depravity  among  the  priests  and  Levites — 'he 
very  men  who  should  have  been  true  to  God  and  inflexible  against 
all  the  seductions  of  popular  sins. 


394 


HALACHL— CHAP.  III. 


CHAPTER    III 


The  coming  of  John  Baptist  and  of  Jesus  the  Messiah  is  fore- 
told with  some  of  the  results  (vs.  1-5) ;  then  exhortations  to  re- 
pentance and  rebukes  for  sin,  especially  the  sin  of  robbing  the  Lord 
of  his  tithes  and  offerings  (vs.  6-12).  The  spirit  of  the  wicked  is 
contrasted  with  the  spirit  of  the  righteous  (vs.  13-18). 

1.  Behold,  I  will  send  my  messenger,  and  lie  shall 
prepare  the  way  before  me :  and  the  Lord,  whom  ye 
seek,  shall  suddenly  come  to  his  temple,  even  the 
messenger  of  the  covenant,  whom  ye  delight  in :  behold, 
he  shall  come,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts. 

The  most  ample  proof  is  found  in  the  ~New  Testament  that  "  ray 
messenger"  is  John  Baptist.  Our  Lord  bore  witness  to  John 
(Luke  7:27):  "  This  is  he  of  whom  it  is  written,  Behold,  I  send 
my  messenger  before  thy  face,  who  shall  prepare  the  way  before 
thee."  His  father,  Zacharias,  when  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost, 
said — "  Thou,  child,  shalt  be  called  the  prophet  of  the  Highest,  for 
thou  shalt  go  before  the  face  of  the  Lord  to  prepare  his  ways,"  &c. 

(Luke  1:76.) Consequently,  "the  Lord  whom  ye  seek,"  "the 

messenger  of  the  covenant,"  can  be  no  other  than  Jesus  the  Mes- 
siah. It  was  of  the  wisdom  and  mercy  of  God  that  he  should  be  so 
definitely  pointed  out  both  in  this  and  kindred  prophecies,  and  by  a 
messenger  so  fitted  every  way  for  his  commission  as  John.  Such 
indications  must  have  been  eminently  welcome  and  satisfactory  to 

all  honest  minds. This  feature  in  the  description  of  Messiah, 

"  whom  ye  seek,"  was  pertinent  in  the  latest  prophecy  of  him,  and 
pertinent  at  the  time  of  his  coming,  inasmuch  as  high  expectations 
concerning  hini  were  now  raised,  jmd  a  lively  interest  in  his  coming 
was  awakened.  The  testimony  concerning  Simeon  and  Anna,  as 
given  by  Luke,  is  in  point  to  illustrate  the  "seeking"  of  the  pious 
portion  of  the  people.     Plainly  their  hearts  were  keenly  alive  with 

interest  and  hope. That  he  should  be  spoken  of  as  "coming  to 

Ms  temple,"  may  be  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that  the  temple  was  Ids 
by  long  residence — his  visible  glory  having  dwelt  there  for  ages, 
reposing  upon  the  mercy-seat  and  beneath  the  cherubim;  partly 
also  to  the  indications  of  prophecy,  as  in  Zech.  G  :  12,  13 — "he  shall 
build  the  temple  of  the  Lord." But  why  is  he  called  "  the  mes- 
senger of  the  covenant"?  "Messenger"  means  angel.  It  is  the 
word  usually  translated  angel.  Jesus  is  the  angel  of  the  covenant 
in  the  twofold  sense :  (1.)  Of  being  the  same  personage  so  often 
called  in  the  Old  Testament  an  "  angel,"  e.  g.,  Ex.  23  :  20-23,  which 
if  the  reader  will  examine,  he  will  see  refers  to  the  uncreated  angel 
who  pardons  sin,  in  whom  is  the  name  of  Jehovah,  and  who  is  a 
perpetual  Presence  with  his  Church  under  both  the  old  dispensation 
IT* 


MALACHL— CHAP.  III.  395 

and  the  new  ;  called  "  the  angel  of  the  covenant"  also,  because  so 
long  promised  by  covenant  with  the  patriarchs  and  saints  of  old  : 
and  (2.)  Of  being  especially  "  the  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant " 
(Hcb.  9:15);  and  of  "the  better  covenant,  established  upon  better 
promises"  (Heb.  8  :  6-13). "  Behold  "  indicates  an  announce- 
ment worthy  of  particular  attention,  the  more  so  because  repeated 

— "Behold,  he  shall  surely  come,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."- Can 

we  trace  any  connection  of  thought  between  this  promise  as  it 

stands  here,  and  the  preceding  context? If  any,  it  is  this :   The 

priesthood  is  becoming  hopelessly  corrupt,  the  people  going  astray  as 
sheep  having  no  shepherd;  the  kingdom  of  God  will  never  rise  and- 
become  far  extended  by  such  agencies  alone ;  the  name  of  God  is 
everywhere  dishonored.  This  course  of  things  will  not  answer  the 
ends  of  divine  mercy  ;  something  more  and  other  than  this  must  be 
done ;  I  will  send  my  servant-  John,  and  close  after  him,  the  Lord 
of  all!  "  He  will  bear  up  the  otherwise  sinking  cause  of  God  and 

of  righteousness. The  reader  will  notice  the  person  who  speaks 

in  this  verse.  He  is  "  Jehovah  of  hosts."  Yet  he  says  :  "I  will 
send  one  who  shall  prepare  the  way  before  me."  The  testimony 
of  inspiration  thus  makes  the  promised  Messiah  no  other  than 
"  Jehovah  of  hosts."  This  name  is  given  him  by  divine  author- 
ity. 

2.  But  who  may  abide  the  day  of  his  coming  ?  and 
who  shall  stand  when  he  appeareth?  for  he  is  like  a 
refiner's  fire,  and  like  fuller's  soap : 

"Who  shall  be  able  to  bear  the  day  of  his  coming"— the 
searching  ordeal  of  such  moral  scrutiny?  Not  those  corrupt 
priests,  so  recently  before  the  prophet's  mind.  Ah !  full  soon  will 
he  scourge  them  out  of  his  temple,  and  hurl  them  down  from  the 

high  position  which  they  so  shamefully  desecrate ! "  Who  shall 

stand  when  he  appeareth?"  Some  few — those  who  "looked  for 
redemption  in  Jerusalem" — will  hail  his  coming  as  "the  horn  of 
salvation  for  us  in  the  house  of  his  servant  David;"  but  the 
sensual,  the  worldly,  the  formal, — however  carefully  they  may  have 
covered  up  their  iniquity  with  the  cloak  of  sanctimonious  pro- 
fession, will  be  put  through  such  processes  of  refining  and  proving 
as  shall  surely  reveal  their  dross — "  for  he  is  like  a  refiner's  fire,  and 
like  fuller's  soap," — physical  agents  which  well  illustrate  the  work 
of  the  coining  Messiah  in  purifying  his  Church.  The  state  of  the 
Church  and  its  leading  men  at  that  time  strongly  suggested  the 
need  of  this  purifying  work  to  be  done  by  "  the  Messenger  of  the 
covenant." 

3.  And  he  shall  sit  as  a  refiner  and  purifier  of 
silver :  and  he  shall  purify  the  sons  of  Levi?  and  purge 
them  as  gold  and  silver,  that  they  may  offer  unto  the 
Loed  an  offering  in  righteousness. 


396  MALACHL— CHAP.  III. 

"  Sitting  "  is  the  posture  of  the  refiner  of  silver,  chosen  as  being 
more  convenient  for  the  long,  patient,  careful  watching  of  the  pro- 
cess which  is  essential  to  success.  Silver  is  too  precious  to  be 
wasted  by  having  too  much  heat ;  and  its  purity  is  too  valuable  a 

quality  to  be  missed  by  having  too  little. That  "  he  shall  purify 

the  sons  of  Levi  "  was  suggested  by  the  deeply-felt  want  of  this  at 
that  time,  and  is  always  vital  because  of  the  essential  importance 
of  having  those  who  minister  in  sacred  things  spotless  examples  of 
the  godliness  which  they  should  commend  to  others.  How  can  the 
Lord  send  blessings  to  men  through  instrumentalities  that  are  cor- 
rupt and  rotten?  Having  wisely  determined  to  work  through 
human  agents,  and  having  designated  them,  what  if  they  prove 
faithless,  and  only  hinder  and  block  the  progress  of  the  work  they 
should  set  forward  ?  Hence  the  first  labor  of  the  Messiah  when  he 
appears  among  his  people  will  be  "to  purify  the  sons  of  Levi,  that 
they  may  offer  unto  the  Lord  an  offering  in  righteousness." 

4.  Then  shall  the  offering  of  Juclah  and  Jerusalem 
be  pleasant  unto  the  Lord,  as  in  the  days  of  old,  and  as 
in  former  years. 

This  done,  the  offerings  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem  shall  be  pleas- 
ing to  the  Lord  as  in  the  better,  purer  days  of  the  Hebrew  people, 
when  "Israel  was  holiness  to  the  Lord."  (See  Jer.  2 :  3.)  The  verse 
has  a  refreshing  look  toward  that  one  perfect  offering  of  Jesus, 
our  Great  High  Priest,  in  which  God  was  well  pleased,  and  on 
the  ground  of  which  he  will  joyfully  accept  the  humble  offerings  of 
his  people. 

5.  And  I  will  come  near  to  you  to  judgment :  and  I 
will  be  a  swift  witness  against  the  sorcerers,  and  against 
the  adulterers,  and  against  false  swearers,  and  against 
those  that  oppress  the  hireling  in  his  wages,  the  widow, 
and  the  fatherless,  and  that  turn  aside  the  stranger 
from  his  right,  and  fear  not   me,  saith  the  Loed  of 

hosts. 

"  But?  over  ngainst  this,  "  to  you "  and  to  all  such  as  you 
(referring  to  the  priests  and  Levites  of  that  day)  "  will  I  come  near 
in  judgment,  and  I  will  be  a  swift  witness,"  &c. — sicift,  as  afford- 
ing no  more  time  for  such  wickedness,  and  as  cutting  short  their 
most  abused  probation.  These  words  refer  to  the  horribly  wicked 
religious  leaders  of  those  days. 

6.  For  I  am  the  Loud,  I  change  not ;  therefore  ye 
sons  of  Jacob  are  not  consumed. 

The  connection  of  thought  here  turns  on  the  special  significance 
of  the  name  Jehovali — the  ever  faithful  and  unchanging  One — the 
God  of  the  promises,  who  hath  said  and  will  surely  fulfil.    If  he 


MALACHI.— CHAP.  ITT.  307 

had  not  made  such  promises  of  enduring  protection  and  mercy  to 
the  aucient  covenant  people,  he  would  even  now  cut  them  off  at 
once  This  only  is  the  reason  why  they  are  not  consumed.  It  is 
only  because  he  is  Jehovah  that  his  faithfulness  spares  "  the  sons 
of  Jacob."  There  is  a  power  in  that  name,  "  sons  of  Jacob,"  that 
avails  to  save  them  yet,  on  the  score  of  those  never-fading  promises. 
See  notes  on  Hos.  12 :  4-6. 

7.  Even  from  the  clays  of  your  fathers  ye  are  gone 
away  from  mine  ordinances,  and  have  not  kept  them. 
Return  unto  me,  and  I  will  return  unto  you,  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts.     But  ye  said,  Wherein  shall  we  return  % 

8.  "Will  a  man  rob  God?  Yet  ye  have  robbed  me. 
But  ye  say,  Wherein  haye  we  robbed  thee  %  In  tithes 
and  offerings. 

9.  Ye  are  cursed  with  a  curse :  for  ye  have  robbed 
me,  even  this  whole  nation. 

This  apostasy  had  already  been  of  long  standing. rThe  spirit 

of  divine  command  and  promise  is  tersely  and  beautifully  expressed 
here—"  Return  unto  me,  and  I  will  return  unto  you."  So  also  is 
the  spirit  of  man's  depravity  truthfully  expressed  in  the  quick  re- 
sponse—Are we  not  all  right  now  ?  "  Wherein  shall  we  return  ? 
....  Alas  for  the  blindness  of  sin!  Alas  for  the  hardness  it  brings 
on  human  hearts  !  It  is  only  when  conviction  of  the  truth  as  it  is, 
fastens  on  the  mind  through  the  Spirit  of  God,  that  sinners  think  to 

any  purpose  of  returning  to  God. Strange  that  a  man  should 

rob  God '  "  Yet  ye  have  robbed  me,"  in  withholding  the  stipulated 
tithes— the  tenth  part  of  their  annual  income.  For  this  withhold- 
ing, the  Lord  was  visiting  the  land  with  the  curse  of  barrenness 
and  famine. 

10.  Bring  ye  all  the  tithes  into  the  storehouse, 
that  there  may  be  meat  in  mine  house,  and  prove  me 
now  herewith,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  if  I  will  not  open 
you  the  windows  of  heaven,  and  pour  you  oirta  blessing, 
that  there  shall  not  he  room  enough  to  receive  it. 

This  striking  passage  has  the  richer  interest  to  Christians  be- 
cause, under  the  principles  of  the  ancient  economy,  viz.,  temporal 
blessings  to  the  faithfully  obedient,  it  presents  to  us  the  great  law 
of  his  spiritual  administration  as  well,  showing  that  there  can  really 
be  no  limit  (short  of  our  utmost  capacity)  to  the  spiritual  blessings 
God  will  give  those  who,  really  hungering  for  righteousness,  "  open 
wide  their  mouth  that  God  may  fill  it,"  and  hence  who  honestly  use 

all  appropriate  means  for  this  result. God  is  forever  the  same, 

and  certainly  is  no  less  bountiful  of  blessings  under  the  Christian 
than  under  the  Jewish  economy. "  Prove  me ;  "  put  my  words 


398  MALACHL— CHAP.  III. 

to  the  test ;  try  it  and  see.     If  you  have  doubts,  there  is  a  ready 

way  to  solve  them  ;  do  all  I  say,  and  bide  the  issue. uPour  out," 

as  the  margin  indicates,  is  the  verb  that  means  to  empty  out,  as  if 
God  meant  to  say  he  would  empty  forth  his  vast  reservoirs  of  bless- 
ings.  In  the  last  clause,  our  translators  found  it  necessary  to  ital- 
icise too  many  words— a  common  indication  that  they  did  not  clearly 
see  the  primary  sense  of  the  passage.  The  word  they  rendered 
"  that "  never  has  this  meaning,  but  means  until.  The  other 
Hebrew  words  are  "  not  "  and  "  enough  " — "  until  not  enough,"  i.  e., 
until  my  stores  shall  fail  me — a  result  you  never  need  think  of  as 
possible.  Since  this  can  never  be,  the  Lord  would  have  his  people 
understand  that  nothing  can  limit  his  blessings  short  of  their  capa- 
city to  receive.  The  Hebrew  of  this  clause  is  the  same  as  in  Ps.  72 : 
7 — "Abundance  of  peace  until"  (there  is)  "no  moon;  "  translated, 
"  so  long  as  the  moon  endureth. 

11.  And  I  will  rebuke  the  devourer  for  your  sakes, 
and  he  shall  not  destroy  the  fruits  of  your  ground ; 
neither  shall  your  vine  cast  her  fruit  before  the  time  in 
the  field,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts. 

12.  And  all  nations  shall  call  you  blessed :  for  ye 
shall  be  a  delightsome  land,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts. 

These  verses  still  expand  the  promise  commenced  in  v.  10.  If 
you  will  truly  bring  in  all  the  tithes  and  meet  all  your  obligations 
to  God,  then  I  will  rebuke  the  devourer  for  your  sakes — the  locust, 
put  here  for  all  forms  of  destructive  agents.  All  the  nations  shall 
witness  to  your  prosperity. 

13.  Your  words  have  been  stout  against  me,  saith 
the  Lord.  Yet  ye  say,  What  have  we  spoken  so  much 
against  thee  ? 

14.  Ye  have  said,  It  is  vain  to  serve  God :  aud  what 
profit  is  it  that  Ave  have  kept  his  ordinance,  and  that  we 
have  walked  mournfully  before  the  Lord  of  host-  \ 

15.  And  now  we  call  the  proud  happy ;  yea,  they 
that  work  wickedness  are  set  up ;  yea,  they  that  tempt 
God  are  even  delivered. 

Once  more  recurring  to  those  wicked  men  who  have  constantly 
gainsayed  the  prophet  and  his  Lord,  he  charges  them — "Your 
words  have  been  hard,  strong  against  me,  saith  the  Lord."  They 
retort  by  virtually  denying  the  charge.  Then  the  Lord  makes  his 
charge  more  specific.  When  I  promised,  "Bring  in  all  the  tithes,'' 
so  shall  your  cup  be  filled  with  good,  ye  replied,  "  It  is  vain  to  serve 
God ;  what  profit  have  we  found  in  keeping  his  ordinances,  and  walk- 
ing mournfully  before  the  lord,"  :  •  th<  se  who  sorrow  for  their 


MALACHI.— CHAP.  III.  399 

sins?  Thou,  Lord,  hast  said  the  nations  shall  call  the  righteous 
blessed;  on  the  contrary,  ice  call  the  proud  blessed;  yea,  they  that 
work  wickedness  are  built  up  in  enduring;  prosperity.  They  that 
"prove  God"  in  this  way,  daring  him  to  do  his  worst  if  he 
will,  not  those  that  prove  him  by  bringing  in  all  the  tithes, 

are  delivered  from  evil,  and  even  from  the  danger  of  it. The 

antithesis  between  what  God  had-  said  before  (vs.  10-12),  and 
what  these  wicked  gainsayers  reply  (vs.  14,15),  is  much  more  appar- 
ent in  the  original,  especially  of  v.  15  than  in  the  received  trans- 
lation. First,  the  pronoun  "w,"  being  expressed  in  full,  is  slightly 
emphatic:  you  say  one  thing;  we,  on  our  part,  not  admitting  what 
you  say,  are  stoutly  maintaining  the  opposite.  Then  the  verb,  "  call 
you  Messed  "  (in  v.  12),  and  the  corresponding  verb,  "  call  the  proud 
happy"  (v.  15),  are  precisely  the  same  ;  as  if  they  would  say — You 
claim  that  the  nations  shall  call  God's  obedient  people  blessed ;  we, 
for  our  part,  call  the  proud  blessed.  So  the  word  rendered 
"prove  "  (v.  10)  is  the  same  as  is  here  (v.  15)  rendered  "  tempt." 
You  have  said,  Let  my  people  prove  me.  We  have  to  say  in  reply, 
that  the  wicked  have  proved  thee  by  scoffing  at  thy  words ;  and 
yet  so  far  from  being  punished,  they  are  even  delivered  from  all  fear 
and  danger.  Their  eyes  stand  out  with  fatness ;  they  have  more 
than  heart  could  wish. What  a  portrayal  this  of  most  shocking- 
hardihood  in  sin ! 

16.  Tlien  they  tliat  feared  the  Lord  spake  often  one  to 
another  :  and  the  Lord  hearkened  and  heard  it/  and  a 
book  of  remembrance  was  written  before  him  for  them 
that  feared  the  Lord,  and  that  thought  upon  his  name. 

17.  And  they  shall  be  mine,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
in  that  day  when  I  make  up  my  jewels ;  and  I  will  spare 
them,  as  a  man  spareth  his  own  son  that  serveth  him. 

18.  Then  shall  ye  return  and  discern  between  the 
righteous  and  the  wicked,  between  him  that  serveth 
God  and  him  that  serveth  him  not. 

Here  we  turn  to  the  other  class,  in  every  respect  the  moral 

opposites  of  the  ungodly  and  the  proud. "  Then,"  i.  e.,  in  the 

very  face  of  such  bold,  defiant  blasphemy  against  God  and  right- 
eousness ;  "  then  they  that  feared  the  Lord  " — all  unlike  the  proud 
who  had  no  fear  of  God  before  their  eyes — "held  free  communion 
one  with  another."  They  did  not  suppress  their  thoughts  because 
the  defiant  godless  blasphemers  were  so  outspoken,  but  none  the 

less  for  that,  they  talked  freely  one  with  another. There  was 

One  who  listened,  all  unawares  to  them  ;  "  the  Lord  hearkened  and 
heard;  "  and  what  is  more,  he  made  a  record  for  the  perpetual  re- 
membrance of  a  thing  that  touched  his  heart  so  tenderly.  There 
he  entered  the  names  of  those  who,  at  such  a  time,  in  the  face  of 
such  blasphemy,  yet  feared  the  Lord,  and  had  thoughts  of  affection 


400  MALACHL— CHAP.  IV. 

and  esteem  for  Ms  name.  "  These  shall  he  mine,  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts,  in  that  day  when  I  make  up  my  treasures  ;"  I  will  hold  them 
among  my  choicest,  "best  jewels ;  and  until  that  future,  final  gather- 
ing of  them  into  my  heavenly  cahinet,  I  will  manifest  my  compas- 
sion and  loving-kindness  toward  them,  as  a  man  does  toward  his 
own  son  that  serveth  him.  Such  is  the  sense  of  the  word  rendered 
"spare."  The  Lord  implies  that  he  has  indeed  real  service  for  his 
people — some  of  it,  perhaps,  hard  and  earnest  work;  hut  his  great 
and  tender  love  for  them  will  insure  the  kindest  treatment  possible, 
even  as  a  kind  father  may  set  his  son  to  earnest  service,  but  will 
lovingly  watch  over  him  to  spare  him  from  excessive  toil  and  expos- 
ure. No  good  father  makes  his  son  a  galley-slave.  The  kind  Lord 
drops  many  a  loving  tear  over  the  hardships  to  which  his  needful 
service  may  subject  his  people  in  these  years  of  their  toil  and  of 
reproach  for  his  name.     Let  it  be  enough  for  us  that  he  feels 

toward  us    such  pity  and  such  tender  love! "Then  shall  ye 

return,"  look  again,  and  then  ye  shall  see  a  broad  distinction,  nay 
more,  a  real  contrast,  between  the  destiny  of  the  righteous  and  the 
destiny  of  the  wicked.  The  proud  and  defiant  ones  have  been  say- 
ing, "Where  is  the  God  of  judgment?"  "Everyone  that  doeth 
evil  is  good  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  ;  "  "  it  is  vain  to  serve  God ;  " 
"  the  proud  are  blessed  ;  "  "  they  that  tempt  God  with  most  daring 
provocation  are  delivered;" — but  the  reckoning  day  will  shortly 
come  !  Let  the  righteous  return  after  a  little  space,  and  they  will 
see  a  broad  line  of  diverse  destiny  ranging  "  between  him  that 

serveth  God  and  him  that  serveth  him  not." The  beginning  of 

the  next  chapter  is  closely  connected  with  this,  for  there  this  line 
of  difference  becomes  a  wide  and  striking  contrast. 


CHAPTER    IV, 

"With  no  break  in  the  continuous  thought,  this  chapter  proceeds 
to  contrast  the  destiny  of  the  wicked  and  of  the  righteous  (vs.  1-3) ; 
gives  a  general  injunction  to  observe  the  law  of  Moses  (v.  4) ;  and  a 
promise  of  John  Baptist  under  the  name  of  Elijah,  with  brief  hints 
of  the  work  .he  should  do  (vs.  5,  6). 

1.  For  behold,  the  day  cometh,  that  shall  burn  as  an 
oven ;  and  all  the  proud,  yea,  and  all  that  do  wickedly, 
shall  be  stubble :  and  the  day  that  cometh  shall  burn 
them  up,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  that  it  shall  leave  them 
neither  root  nor  branch. 

"For"  indicates  a  close  connection  with  chapter  3.  "Be- 
hold," calls  solemn  attention.  "  The  day,"  in  its  usual  prophetic 
sense,  is  a  period  which  is  peculiar,  "  sui  generis  " — here  a  time  of 
fearful  judgments  on  the  wicked. The  wicked  are  said  in  the 


MALACHL— CHAP.  IV.  401 

Old  Testament,  as  well  as  the  New,  to  be  destroyed  by  fire.  Tims 
Psalm  11  :  G,  "Upon  the  wicked  he  shall  rain  forked  lightnings,  tire, 
and  brimstone,  and  an  horrible  tempest."  The  prime  exemplar  is 
the  ruin  on  Sodom,  Gen.  19:  24,  "Then  the  Lord  rained  npon 
Sodom  brimstone  and  fire  from  the  Lord  out  of  heaven."     See  also 

Ezek.  38 :  22. The  great  question  here  respects  the  time,  and 

hence  the  sort  of  judgment  referred  to.  In  my  view,  the  primary 
reference  must  be  to  judgments  on  the  wicked  in  time,  providential 
inflictions,  like  that  on  Jerusalem  by  the  Romans,  like  the  still 
earlier  jndgments  that  fell  on  the  ungodly  portion  of  the  Jews  in 
the  fearful  Syrian  wars  during  the  second  century  before  Christ ; 
indeed,  embracing  all  those  forms  of  special  infliction  which  belong 
to  God's  providential  government  over  nations  and  individuals  too 
in  the  present  world.  All  these  are  to  be  taken  as  prophecies  and 
pledges  of  that  far  more  terrific  vengeance  which  shall  come  down 
on  all  the  finally  wicked  in  the  world  to  come.  I  would  not  apply 
this  passage  to  either  this  world  or  the  next,  to  the  entire  exclusion 
of  the  other,  but  assume  that  it  refers  primarily  to  judgments  in  this 
world;  then  as  a  type,  a  harbinger,  prophecy,  and  pledge,  it  em- 
braces also  those  heavier,  sorer  judgments  which  execute  full  and 

unmitigated  justice  on  the  ungodly  in  the  world  to  come. The 

context  shows  that  the  primary  reference  here  is  to  judgments  in 
time  ;  for  the  righteous  are  thought  of  as  walking  over  the  ground 
where  the  ashes  of  the  perished  wicked  lie  strewn. 

2.  But  unto  you  that  fear  my  name,  shall  the  Sun 
of  righteousness  arise  with  healing  in  his  wings ;  and 
ye  shall  go  forth,  and  grow  up  as  calves  of  the  stall. 

3.  And  ye  shall  tread  down  the  wicked;  for  they 
shall  be  ashes  under  the  soles  of  your  feet  in  the  day 
that  I  shall  do  this,  saith  the  Lokd  of  hosts. 

This  is  the  joyous,  far  different  lot  of  the  righteous.  The  fear- 
ers of  God's  name  are  in  strong  contrast  of  character  as  well  as 

destiny  with  the  proud  blasphemers. The  rising  sun  is  a  glowing 

and  glorious  image  of  hope  and  joy.  "Righteousness"  has  here 
the  not  uncommon  sense  of  deliverance,  salvation,  blessedness,  with 
no  implication  of  its  being  strictly  deserved  on  the  score  of  simple 
justice,  and  by  no  means  excluding  mercy.  The  reference  is  mainly 
to  the  Messiah  as  the  great  fountain  of  light,  peace,  and  joy,  to  the 

saints  of  God.     His  wings  are  the  beams  of  his  light. "  Ye  shall 

go  forth  and  leap  as  well-fed"  calves  of  the  stall."  Leaping  rather 
than  growing  is  the  sense  of  the  Hebrew,  indicative  of  exultant 

i0y How  solemn  and  impressive  the  scene,  to  walk  over  the 

ashes  of  the  wicked  and  say— Here  the  wrath  of  God  smote  them, 
and  here  their  ruins  lie,  an  awful  monument  to  the  madness  of  sin 
and  to  the  justice  of  Jehovah's  most  fearful  retributions !  Such 
views  of  their  horrid  blasphemous  wickedness  as  are  given  above 
(3  :  13-15),  ought  to  reconcile  every  sane  mind  to  the  severity  of 


402  MALACHL-r-CHAP.  IV. 

these  judgments,  and  even  ought  to  inspire  in  all  hearts  the  song  of 
Moses  and  of  the  Lamb — "  Great  and  marvellous  are  thy  works, 
Lord  God  Almighty;  j u at  and  true  are  thy  ways,  thou  king  of 
saints." 

4.  Remember  ye  the  law  of  Moses  my  servant,  which 
I  commanded  nnto  bim  in  Horeb  for  all  Israel,  with  the 
statutes  and  judgments. 

Specially  pertinent,  in  view  of  the  shocking  abuses  and  corrup- 
tions of  the  ceremonial  law,  is  this  last  injunction  to  observe  those 
statutes  and  judgments  until  the  better  system  shall  supersede  them. 

5.  Bebold,  I  will  send  you  Elijah  the  prophet  before 
the  coming  of  the  great  and  dreadful  day  of  the  Loed  : 

6.  And  he  shall  turn  the  heart  of  the  fathers  to  the 
children,  and  the  heart  of  the  children  to  their  fathers, 
lest  I  come  and  smite  the  earth  with  a  curse. 

The  remarkable  thing  in  this  passage  is  that,  without  any  spe- 
cial explanation,  the  great  forerunner  of  the  Messiah  is  here  called 
"  Elijah  the  prophet."  The  New  Testament  has  solved  this  enigma 
to  us ;  but  how  could  the  Jews  of  Malaehi's  time  have  understood 

it? Still  the  general  sense  might  perhaps  have  been  clear  to 

them,  viz.,  one  who  should  be  a  second  Elijah,  who  should  come 
with  a  spirit  and  power  like  his,  sternly  rebuking  sin,  and  earnestly 
calling  all  men  to  repentance.  This  would  be  the  more  apparent 
by  how  much  the  more  they  regarded  Elijah  as  a  representative 
man,  embodying  in  himself  precisely  those  qualities  which  fitted 
him  for  the  prophetic  work.  The  shocking  corruption  of  the  priests 
in  the  time  of  Malachi  would  suggest  strongly  that  the  covenant 
people  would  need  another  Elijah,  filled  vvitli  his  spirit  and  power, 
to  do  the  work  which  the  priesthood  were  only  undoing  and  coun- 
teracting.  Our  Lord,  in  Mark  9 :  11-13,  gave  a  very  specific  expla- 
nation. "They  asked  him — 'Why  say  the  scribes  that  Elias  must 
first  come  ? '" '  He  answered — *'  Elias  verily  cometh  first  and  restor- 
eth  all  things;  but  I  say  unto  you  that  Elias  is  indeed  come,  and 
they  have  done  unto  him  whatsoever  they  listed."  Or  as  narrated 
by  Matthew  (11 :  14),  v"  If  ye  will  receive  it,  this  is  Elias  who  was 

to  come." The  phrase  rendered — "  the  great  and  dreadful  day 

of  the  Lord,"  is  in  the  original  verbatim  from  Joel  2  :  31,  "  before 
the  coming  of  the  day  of  the  Lord,  the  great,  and  the  terrible." 
Standing  here  it  must  refer  to  the  "  day  that  shall  burn  as  an  oven  " 
(v.  1),  while  not  unnaturally  the  language  may  be  borrowed  from  Joel. 

To  warn  in  mercy  before  he  smites  in  judgment,  is  evermore 

the  order  of  God's  throne.  Hence  the  second  Elijah  should  come 
before  the  Jewish  people  and  polity  should  be  smitten  down  by  the 
terrible  Roman  arms.  They  were  fearfully  corrupt  already.  It 
was  foreseen  that  they  would  become  yet  more  so  before  and  dur- 


MALACHI.— CHAP.  IV.  403 

ing  the  Messiah's  incarnation.  Ilence  the  last  warnings  sent 
them  through  John  Baptist,  in  the  form  of  a  call  to  repent,  and 
to  welcome  their  Great  Deliverer,  soon  to  appear,  came  in  the 
hour  of  their  greatest  moral  extremity. But  what  is  the  perti- 
nence of  describing  the  moral  work  wrought  by  John  Baptist,  as 
"  turning  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  to  the  children  and  the  hearts 

of  the  children  to  the  fathers  "  ? Perhaps  few  of  us  appreciate 

the  loving  heart  and  the  social  influence  of  this  John.  It  may  have 
come  to  us  with  the  notions  of  our  childhood  to  think  of  the  man 
of  camel's-hair  cloak  and  leathern  girdle,  making  his  meals  of  lo- 
custs, and  ranging  the  wilderness  of  Judea  to  preach  repentance,  as 
only  a  stern  reprover — a  battle-axe  upon  men's  sins,  and  scarcely 

less  savage  toward  the  endearing  relationships  of  society. If  we 

added  the  latter  inference,  we  made  a  great  mistake.  It  never  was 
any  part  of  true  religion,  never  was  the  function  of  any  true  re- 
former, to  ride  roughshod  over  the  tenderness  of  the  parental  and 
filial  relations.  No,  it  is  idolatry  that  first  debases  and  then  cruci- 
fies parental  affection,  and  makes  the  mother  that  bare  him  heart- 
less and  cruel  enough  to  cast  her  boy  into  the  burning  arms  of  Mo- 
loch. Avarice  and  lust  are  doing  the  same  thing  in  ten's  of  thou- 
sands of  families  in  Christian  lands  to-day.  So  always  and  every- 
where sin  quickens  selfishness ;  and  selfishness,  grown  rampant  and 
rabid,  severs  parent  from  child,  and  child  from  parent.  On  the 
other  hand,  what  do  we  always  see  in  all  genuine  revivals  of  re- 
ligion ?  What  so  universally  as  a  revival  of  deep,  all-absorbing  love 
for  others,  especially  within  the  circle  of  the  domestic  relations? 
How  often  do  we  see  the  hearts  of  parents  borne  down  with  almost 
crushing  solicitude  in  the  tenderness  of  their  love  for  the  souls  of 
their  children !  What  but  this  turning  of  the  hearts  of  parents  to 
their  children  begets  such  agonizing  prayer  of  Christian  parents  for 
ungodly  children,  and  of  converted  children  for  yet  unconverted 

parents  ? Hence  it  was  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  that  moved  this 

prophet  to  touch  by  one  master-stroke  the  central  influence  of  John 
Baptist's  preaching.  When  the  men  whom  he  called  so  might- 
ily to  repentance,  had  bowed  their  hearts  to  this  high  behest,  their 
next  thought  was  that  of  renewed  care  and  love  for  their  children. 
If  we  had  been  present  in  that  revival,  we  should  have  found  it  by 
no  means  unlike  all  the  true  revivals  of  our  day  in  this  one  most 
precious  feature. Such  a  revival  of  the  home  and  household  af- 
fections is  eminently  pleasing  to  God.  In  such  a  soil  religion 
thrives.  Where  the  hearts  of  fathers  turn  with  loving,  tender  in- 
terest toward  their  children,  and  the  hearts  of  children  in  like 
manner  to  their  fathers,  the  Saviour  finds  a  congenial  home  and 
takes  up  his  abode. It  seems  to  be  implied  that  if  John's  preach- 
ing had  altogether  failed  of  this  result,  the  gospel  of  salvation  from 
the  lips  of  Jesus  might  have  fallen  powerless  upon  the  world,  and 
left  to  Judea  and  to  the  nations  of  the  earth  only  the  remediless 

"  curse.'''' How  forcibly,  then,  comes  the  appeal  to  us  to  cherish 

the  tenderness  of  mutual  love  and  earnest  care  for  others1  souls, 


404  MALACHL— CHAP.  IV. 

especially  within  the  dear  circle  of  family  relationships,  lest  the 
gospel  should  fail  to  bless  us,  and  lest  we  doom  ourselves  and  those 
we  ought  to  love,  to  a  moral  ruin  for  which  God  has  no  remedy ! 
Thus  close  the  admonitions  of  the  last  prophet  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament age,  and  with  them  the  volume  of  Scripture  as  it  stood  till 
in  the  fulness  of  time  the  Messiah  came. 


DISSEETATIOX    I. 


OX  THE  CRITERIA  FOR  DISTINGUISHING,  IK  THE  PROPHETIC  LIFE, 
BETWEEN  TniNGS  SEEN  AND  DONE  IN  VISION  ONLY,  AND  THINGS 
DONE   IN  FACT. 

The  importance  of  this  point  seems  to  justify  a  more  extended 
examination  than  could  properly  be  introduced  in  the  notes. 

It  is  clear  beyond  a  doubt  that  some  of  the  prophets  had  visions, 
somewhat  analogous  to  dreams,  yet  not  altogether  dreams,  in  which 
objects  were  presented  to  their  mind's  eye  only;  or  as  the  case  may 
be,  they  were  transported,  not  in  body,  but  in  thought,  to  distant 
points,  and  made  to  see  or  do  things  that  had  no  actuality  in  the 
external  world.  It  is  equally  clear  that  these  prophets  all  lived  an 
actual  life  in  this  external  world,  and  that,  in  the  ministry  of  their 
prophetic  office,  they  were  required  of  God  to  go  and  to  do  in  the 
external  world  things  of  a  symbolic  nature,  belonging  properly  to 

their  prophetic  work. Now  our  first  question  is,  Are  there  any 

criteria  by  which  these  two  very  different  things  can  be  distin- 
guished from  each  other  f 

Our  second  question  is,  If  so,  are  they  in  the  records  themselves, 
in  the  very  forms  of  the  statement,  or  are  they  mainly  or  only  in 
our  own  ideas  of  the  fitness  or  unfitness  of  the  things  to  be  done  in 
actual  life  ? 

The  only  decisive  and  satisfactory  answer  to  these  questions 
must  be  obtained  by  a  careful  examination  of  the  cases  which  belong 
to  one  class  or  the  other  as  they  stand  in  the  record.  If  there  are 
laws  of  prophetic  usage,  so  well  established  as  to  afford  us  the  cri- 
teria we  seek,  they  must  be  sought  and  found  by  a  thorough  induc- 
tion from  particular  cases ;  not  otherwise.  We  are  shut  up  to  an 
examination  of  the  record.  Does  the  record  give  us  the  distinctive 
criteria,  or  does  it  commit  the  decision  to  the  taste  and  judgment 
of  each  reader?  The  subject  will  be  exhausted  only  when  all  the 
cases  that  belong  to  either  class  have  been  carefully  and  candidly 

examined. Ezekiel  abounds  in  these  cases.     We  will  begin  with 

him. Note  a  case  of  mere  vision  (37:  1-14),  the  well-known 

"  valley  of  dry  bones."  The  very  introduction  shows  this  to  be  a 
vision  only.     "The  hand  of  the  Lord  was  upon  me,"  indicating 


40G  DISSERTATION  I. 

some  special  extraordinary  power,  "and  carried  me  out.  in  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord,"  not  in  actuality,  but  in  that  peculiar,  prophetic 
state  often  described  as  "in  the  Spirit;"  and  "set  me  down  in 
the  midst  of  the  valley,  which  was  full  of  bones,  and  caused  me  to 
pass  by  them  round  about,'1  &c.  Here  the  form  of  the  statement 
seems  designed  to  shut  off  the  thought  of  an  actual  scene.  But  vs. 
15-22  in  the  same  chapter  present  an  actual  scene.  "  Take  thee 
one  stick,  and  write  on  it  Tor  Judah,'  and  take  another 
stick,  and  write  on  it,  'For  Ephraim,'  &c. ;  join  them  one  to  an- 
other into  one  stick,  and  they  shall  become  one  in  thy  hand." 
That  this  is  actual,  and  not  in  vision  only,  appears  from  the  fact 
that  the  form  of  statement  gives  no  intimation  of  a  vision,  but  has 
throughout  the  air  of  reality.  Thus,  "  When  the  children  of  thy 
people  shall  ask,  Wilt  thou  not  show  us  what  thou  meanest  by 
these?  "it  is  plainly  implied  that  they  saw  the  sticks  joined,  and 
did  not  merely  hear  the  prophet  report  the  case  as  presented  to 
himself  alone,  and  in  vision  only.  Still  further,  the  Lord  said : 
"  The  sticks  whereon  thou  writest  shall  be  in  thine  hand  before 
their  eyes"  i.  <?.,  as  an  illustration  of  great  truths  to  be  propheti- 
cally announced. It  should  be  constantly  borne  in  mind  that 

the  people  are  in  the  external  world  only — never  in  the  state  of 
prophetic  vision.  What  they  see  and  hear,  therefore,  must  be  in 
the  external  world — in  the  world  of  sense,  and  not  in  the  prophetic 
world  of  the   "Spirit."     Hence  this  union  of  the  two  sticks  must 

have  been  real,  and  not  visional  only. Yet  further,  comparing 

the  two  portions  of  the  37th  chapter  above  named — the  former  a 
vision,  viz.,  of  the  dry  bones,  and  the  latter  an  actuality — the  union 
of  two  sticks  in  one  in  the  prophet's  hand — we  may  note  another 
distinctive  criterion.  The  former  consists  mainly  of  things  seen  by 
the  prophet;  the  latter  of  things  done.  So  we  might  expect  that 
in  visions  the  prophet  will  be  mainly  an  observer,  but  in  things 

made  actual  for  symbolic  purposes,  mainly  a  doer. Ezek.  40-48 

is  declared  to  be  a  vision.  "The  hand  of  God  was  upon  me,  and 
brought  me  thither,"  i.  e.,  to  the  city  of  Jerusalem:  "in  the  visions 
of  God  brought  he  me  into  the  land  of  Israel,  and  set  me  on  a  very 
high  mountain,"  &c,  where  he  saw  the  frame  of  a  city,  and  a  man 
in  appearance  as  brass,  &c,  with  a  measuring  line  in  his  hand ; 
and  he  was  told  to  note  with  special  care  all  he  should  see  and 

hear,  that  he  might  declare  it  to  the  house  of  Israel. The  whole 

account  shows  beyond  a  doubt  that  this  is  a  vision  only.  The 
record  is  throughout  one  of  things  seen  by  the  prophet,  not  of 
things  done.  The  "  hand  of  the  Lord,"  which  is  "  upon  him,"  and  by 
which  he  is  "brought"  from  one  point  of  the  scene  to  another,  is 
continually  referred  to,  e.  g.,  40 :  2,  3, 17,  24,  35,  48,  and  41 : 1,  and 

42  : 1,  and  43  :  1,  &c,  etc. Equally  clear  to  the  same  conclusion 

is  the  passage  Ezek,  chapter  8-11,  inclusive.  Both  the  introduction 
and  the  close  of  this  passage  are  decisive.  The  prophet  is  sitting  in 
his  house;  the  elders  of  Judah  are  sitting  before  him;  "  the  hand  of 
the  Lord  falls  there  upon  him  ;  "  he  sees  a  strangely  glorious  form 


DISSERTATION  I.  407 

"of  the  likeness  of  fire  from  the  loins  downward,  and  of  brightness 
like  amber  from  the  loins  upward."  This  personage,  says  Eze- 
kiel,  "  put  forth  the  form  of  a  hand,  and  took  me  by  a  lock  of  mine 
hair,  and  the  Spirit  lifted  me  up  between  the  earth  and  the 
heavens,  and  brought  me  in  the  visions  of  God  to  Jerusalem.'" 
There  he  saw  scenes  significant  and  most  impressive.  At  the  close 
he  records:  "Afterward  the  Spirit  took  me  up  and  brought  me  in 
a  vision  by  the  Spirit  of  God  into  Chaldea  to  them  of  the  captivity. 
So  the  vision  that  I  had  seen  went  up  from  me."  "  Then  I  spake  to 
them  of  the  captivity,  all  the  things  that  the  Lord  had  shown  me." 

The  reader  will  take  note  that  these  chapters  are  throughout  a 

narration  of  things  seen  by  the  prophet — not  of  things  done.  Indeed, 
very  special  care  is  taken  to  make  it  clear  that  these  things  are 
seen  and  transacted  in  vision  only.  The  language  used  is  strongly 
distinctive.  "  The  Spirit  lifted  me  up,"  "  brought  me  in  the  visions 
of  God  to  Jerusalem."  "  Afterward  the  Spirit  took  me  up  and 
brought  me  in  a  vision  by  the  Spirit  of  God  into  Chaldea."  "  So  the 
vision  that  I  had  seen  went  up  from  me,"  as  if  it  had  been  a  great 

sheet  of  panoramic  representation. This  extreme  care,  to  define 

the  precise  character  of  the  transaction  should  be  especially  noticed, 
since  it  manifestly  justifies  the  inference  that  God  would  have  us 
distinguish  between  this  class  of  cases  and  those  of  a  symbolic  charac- 
ter, where  external  acts  are  really  done.  It  also  shows  that  he  in- 
tends to  furnish  the  criteria  for  this  discrimination  himself,  so  as  to 
leave  us  no  responsibility,  and  no  exercise  of  judgment,  save  that  of 

interpreting  his  very  plain  words. Over  against  these  visions 

there  lies  a  class  of  symbolic  transactions,  done  in  real  life,  in  the 
external  world,  before  the  open  eyes  of  the  people — their  symbolic 
character  having  for  its  aim  a  deeper  impression  on  the  popular 
mind.  In  this  class  stands  Ezek.  12  : 1-16.  It  opens  not  by  saying, 
"  The  hand  of  the  Lord  was  upon  me  ;  "  "  the  Spirit  took  me  up  ;  " 
"I was  brought  in  vision  by  the  Spirit,"  &c. ;  but  thus;  "Son  of 
man,  thou  dwellest  in  the  midst  of  a  rebellious  house,  who  have 
eyes  to  see,  and  see  not,"  &c,  implying  the  occasion  for  new  and 
peculiar  means  of  impressing  truth  on  their  dull  minds  and  hard 
hearts.  "  Therefore,  thou  son  of  man,  prepare  thee  stuff  for  remov- 
ing, and  remove  by  day  in  their  sight "  (not  by  night,  and  in  dreams 
only)  ;  "it  may  be  they  will  consider,  though  they  are  a  rebellious 

house." The  whole  plan  of  operation  is  then  detailed,  and  he  is 

especially  charged  again  (v.  6)  to  "  do  it  in  their  sight ',"  and  finally 
the  reason  is  given :  "  For  I  have  set  thee  for  a  sign  (a  thing  both 
visible  and  significant)  to  the  house  of  Israel."  The  prophet 
proceeds  to  say  (v.  7),  "  I  did  so  as  I  was  commanded,"  i.  e.,  this 
was  an  actual  transaction.  Furthermore,  the  end  sought  was 
in  part  at  least  gained;  the  people  inquired,  and  the  Lord  im- 
proved their  awakened  curiosity.  "  Son  of  man,  hath  not  the 
house  of  Israel-,  the  rebellious  house,  said  unto  thee,  What  doest 
thou?  Say  thou  unto  them,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God:  This 
burden  (i.  e.,  of  predicted  calamity)  concerneth  the  prince  in  Jeru- 


408  DISSERTATION  I. 

salem,  and  all  the  house  of  Israel  that  are  among  them.  Say,  I  am 
your  sign  ;  in  like  manner  as  I  have  done,  so  shall  it  he  done  unto 
them;  they  shall  remove  and  go  into  captivity."  Here  we  see  at 
every  point  most  decisive  indications  that  this  is  a  symholic  transac- 
tion, actually  wrought  before  the  eyes  of  the  people.  The  prophet 
is  here  a  doer,  not  a  seer  ;  the  people  see,  and  therefore  the  things 

done  must  have  been  in  the  world  of  sense  before  them. Of  the 

same  sort  is  the  transaction  recorded  Ezek.  4.  Here  we  miss  the 
statements  :  "  The  hand  of  the  Lord  was  upon  me ;  "  "  the  Spirit 
took  me  up  or  brought  me ;"  "I  was  in  vision,'1  &c,  &c. ;  but  on 
the  other  hand,  we  find  the  other  class  of  statements :  "  Son  of  man 
do  "  certain  things ;  "  this  shall  be  a  sign  to  the  house  of  Israel."  In 
this  case  the  things  to  do  are :  "  Take  thee  a  tile  and  lay  it  before 
thee,  and  portray  upon  it  the  city — even  Jerusalem — and  lay  siege 
against  it.  Set  the  camp  against  it,  and  battering-rams — all  the 
enginery  of  assault  in  ancient  warfare.  ISFor  may  he  omit  the 
means  of  protection  to  the  assailing  party :  "  Take  thee  an  iron 
pan,  and  set  it  for  a  wall  of  iron  between  thee  and  the  city," 
and  so  make  the  siege  complete.  And  then  the  Lord  said :  "This 
shall  be  a  sign  to  the  house  of  Israel" — the  usual  formula 
to  show  that  this  is  a  symbolic  and  real  transaction.  In  this 
case  also  we  have  a  long  series  of  details  respecting  the  prophet's 
lying  first  on  the  left  side  and  then  on  the  right  side,  and  the 
significance  of  each ;  the  duration  of  each  and  its  significance ; 
then,  moreover,  his  food  and  drink  the  while  are  fully  defined.  The 
circumstance  of  his  cooking  his  own  food  shows  that  his  lying  on 
one  side  was  not  absolutely  continuous  during  the  whole  twenty- 
four  hours  of  every  day.  It  was  sufficient  that  it  should  be  so  con- 
tinuous, and  withal  so  public,  as  to  avail  for  a  sign  to  Israel.  The 
decisive  proof  of  an  actual  transaction  in  this  case  lies  partly  in 
the  absence  of  any  hint  that  this  is  seen  in  vision  only,  and  part- 
ly in  the  fact  that  throughout  it  is  represented  as  a  veritable  transac- 
tion ;  but  especially  in  the  declaration,  "  This  shall  be  a  sign  to  the 
house  of  Israel."  For  if  the  whole  thing  were  seen  by  the  prophet  in 
vision  only,  and  not  done  at  all,  how  could  it  be  seen  by  the  people  and 
be  a  "  sign  unto  them  ? "  For  it  cannot  be  even  supposed  that  they 
were  in  a  state  of  prophetic  vision,  and  so  were  able  to  see  things 
presented  in  Tision  only.    Note  here  also  that  the  prophet  is  a  doer, 

not  a  seer. Ezek.  1  is  a  vision  throughout,  for  so  the  record  states : 

— v.  1,  "  The  heavens  were  opened,  and  I  saw  visions  of  God  ;  "  and 
v.  3,  "  The  hand  of  the  Lord  was  there  upon  him ;  "  "And  I  looked 
and  beheld,"  &c.  Ezek.  2  is  also  a  vision.  "  The  Spirit  entered  into 
me  when  he  spake  unto  me,  and  set  me  upon  my  feet,  and  then  I 
heard  him  that  spake  unto  me  " — the  prophetic  state,  that  of 
one  into  whom  the  Spirit  had  entered,  being  a  prerequisite  to  his 

hearing  the  words  spoken  to  him  in  the  vision. The  "  roll  "  of 

which  we  read,  2 : 8-10,  and  3  :  1-10,  should  be  accounted  a  thing 
of  vision,  this  being  indicated  by  the  words  (2  :  9),  ""When  I  looked, 
behold  an  hand  was  sent  unto  me,  and  lo,  a  roll  of  a  book  was 


DISSERTATION  I.  409 

therein." In  Ezek.  3 :  11-27  some  of  the  transactions  seem  to 

have  been  of  the  external  world,  and  some  only  seen  or  done  in 
vision.  Of  the  former  sort  are  his  "  going  to  them  of  the  captivity," 
(vs.  11-15),  and  "Ma  going  forth  into  the  plain"  (vs.  22,  23).  Of 
the  latter,  "  the  Spirit" took  me  up  "  (v.  12),  "lifted  me  up  and  took 
me  away  "  (v.  14),  &c.  In  the  former  case,  if  they  of  the  captivity 
are  spoken  of  as  actual  and  not  visional,  then  his  going  to  them 
must  have  been  in  the  external  world,  and  not  in  the  world  of 

thought  only. Ezek.  5 :  1-4,  the  prophet  polling  his  hair  and 

dividing  it  into  three  parts,  one  part  to  be  burned  with  fire  in  the 
midst  of  the  city,  another  to  be  smitten  about  with  a  knife,  and 
the  last  third  scattered  to  the  wind  ;  and  the  application  of  this  to 
Jerusalem  (vs.  5-17)  we  must  obviously  interpret  as  a  real  transac- 
tion, although  the  forms  of  statement  which  specially  indicate  a 
symbolic  proceeding  are  not  here.  On  the  other  hand,  the  yet  more 
uniformly  present  indications  of  a  vision  are  wholly  wanting ;  and 
moreover,  the  thing  itself  is  so  obviously  done  to  be  seen  oy  the  peo- 
ple, and  would  have  so  little  force  as  a  thing  presented  to  the 
prophet  only,  and  in  vision,  that  all  doubt  is  substantially  preclud- 
ed.  In  Ezek.  21 :  6,  7,  we  must  recognize  an  actual  scene,  the 

tokens  of  bitter  grief,  groans,  and  sighs,  must  have  been  heard  and 
seen  by  the  people.  This  was  the  intent  of  the  command :  "  Sigh, 
therefore,  thou  son  of  man,  with  the  breaking  of  thy  loins ;  and 
with  bitterness,  sigh  before  their  eyes.  V.  7  shows  that  they  saw, 
and  therefore  inquired  the  cause  :  "  It  shall  be  when  they  say  unto 
thee,  wherefore  sighest  thou? "that  thou  shalt  answer,  "For the 
tidings,  because  it  cometh,"  &c.  This  awakened  curiosity  and  at- 
tention, the  Lord  used  of  set  purpose  to  get  into  their  dull  and  un- 
believing minds  the  great  idea  of  coming  calamity. In  Ezek.  24, 

we  have  first  a  supposed  case,  for  it  is  definitely  named  a  "parable," 
and  is  to  be  spoken  to  the  people,  and  not  done,  in  fact,  before  them. 
"  Utter  a  parable  to  the  rebellious  house,  and  say  unto  them,  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  God ;  Set  on  a  pot,  set  it  on,  pour  water  into  it ; 
gather  the  pieces,  i.  e.,  of  a  slain  animal,  and  let  them  seethe  the 
bones  therein."  And  this  was  to  represent  the  bloody  city,  Jerusa- 
lem, in  which  flesh,  bones,  and  blood  promiscuously,  were  seethiDg 
together.  This  parable  forms  the  text  for  the  discourse,  vs.  6-14. 
Strictly,  this  case  is  neither  a  symbol  nor  a  vision.  It  is  only  and 
precisely  what  the  Lord  called  it,  a  "parable,"  and  shows  that  the 
Lord  is  specially  careful  to  define  sharply  the  particular  manner  of 
his  revelations  to  men  by  his  prophets,  so  that  there  shall  be  the 

least  possible  occasion  for  misapprehension  on  this  point. Over 

against  this  parable,  vs.  15-18  describe  a  real  transaction.  The 
prophet  is  apprised  that  the  Lord  will  "take  away  the  desire  of  his 
eyes  with  a  stroke,"  and  is  forbidden  to  mourn  or  weep  therefor. 
"So,"  he  adds,  "I  spake  unto  the  people  in  the  morning,  and  in  the 
evening  my  wife  died,  and  I  did  as  I  was  commanded."  This  was- 
visible  to  the  people,  and  therefore  an  actual  death,  and  a  real  case 
of  a  bereaved  husband,  refraining  from  the  usual  tokens  of  grief. 
18 


410  DISSERTATION  I. 

The  people  ask — "  Wilt  thou  not  tell  us  what  these  things  are  to  us 
that  thou  doest  so  ?  "  showing  that  they  understand  this  to  he  a  sym- 
bol, and  therefore  significant  as  to  themselves.  Further,  the  narra- 
tive repeatedly  declares :  "  Ezekiel  is  unto  you  a  sign  "  (v.  24),  "  and 
thou  shalt  he  a  sign  unto  them  "  (v.  27).  Thus  by  the  words  and 
forms  of  statement  the  line  is  drawn,  and  in  the  main  clearly,  be- 
tween things  actually  done  for  symbolic  or  other  purposes,  and 
things  only  seen  by  the  prophet  himself  in  vision.  This  examiua- 
tion  has  aimed  to  touch  all  the  cases  of  either  sort  that  occur  in 
Ezekiel.  An  induction  of  cases  that  is  exhaustive,  bringing  under 
consideration,  and  properly  classifying  all  the  passages  that  relate 
to  the  question  in  hand,  must  bring  out  the  laws  of  prophetic  usage 
in  this  matter.  Indeed,  this  method  must  furnish  the  only  legitimate 
and  ultimate  data  for  obtaining  these  laws  of  prophetic  usage.  In 
this  matter  the  Book  of  Ezekiel  is  classic  ground,  furnishing  us 
more  data  than  all  the  other  Old  Testament  prophets  combined. 
Hence  the  great  length  of  this  examination  of  Ezekiel. 

In  Zech.  1 :  7  to  6  :  8  are  eight  distinct  visions,  and  in  6  :  9-15  is 
one  symbolic  transaction  in  actual  life.  The  broad  line  of  distinc- 
tion between  these  two  classes  in  the  very  forms  of  statement  is 
worthy  of  special  attention.  The  visions  open  thus:  "I  saw  by 
night,  and  behold  a  man  riding  upon  a  red  horse,"  &c.  (1 :  8) ;  "  Then 
I  lifted  up  mine  eyes  and  saw,  and  behold  four  horses,"  &c.  (1 :  18). 
"  I  lifted  up  mine  eyes  again  and  looked,  and  behold  a  man  with  a 
measuring  line,"  &c.  (2 :  1);  "And  he  showed  me  (i.  e.,  caused  me 
to  see)  Joshua,  the  high  priest,  standing  before  the  angel  of  the 
Lord,  and  Satan  standing  at  his  right  hand  to  resist  him,"  &c.  (3:  1); 
"  And  the  angel  that  talked  with  me  came  again  and  waked  me,  as 
a  man  that  is  wakened  out  of  his  sleep,  and  said  unto  me,"  &c.  (4  :  1). 
This  passage  is  specially  valuable  as  showing  that  the  state  of  recep- 
tivity for  prophetic  visions  was  peculiar,  wui  generis.  Further,  "I 
turned  and  lilted  up  mine  eyes  and  looked,  and  behold  a  flying 
roll,"  &c.  (5 :  1).  "  The  angel  that  talked  with  me  said,  Lift  up 
now  thine  eyes  and  see  what  is  this  that  goeth  forth,"  &c.  (5 :  5). 
"And  I  turned  and  lifted  up  mine  eyes  and  looked,  and  behold  four 
chariots,"  &c.  (G  :  1).  The  uniformity  and  precision  of  these  state- 
ments is  certainly  complete,  leaving  nothing  more  for  us  even  to 

desire. From  this  series  of  prophetic  visions  let  us  pass  on  to 

the  closing  portion  of  this  same  sixth  chapter.  The  record  here  is 
very  definite,  yet  entirely  different  from  what  we  have  seen  in  the 
eight  visions  that  immediately  precede.  ISTot  a  word  is  said  about 
"  lifting  up  his  eyes,"  nor  about  "  being  made  to  see,"  nor  does  he 
say  at  the  commencement,  "  behold,"  nor  is  he  "  wakened  out  of  his 
sleep,"  nor  is  it  "seen  by  night,"  But  squarely  over  against  these 
characteristics,  "the  word  of  the  Lord  comes  to  him,"  just  as  it 
does  in  the  passages  1 :  1-6,  and  7:1,  if.,  and  8 :  1,  &c,  &c.  Then 
the  Lord  commands  him  not  to  see  something,  but  to  do  something ; 
in  this  case,  "Take  from  the  captive  delegation,  late  from  Babylon, 
silver  and  gold  and  make  crowns,  and  set  them  on  the  head  of 


DISSERTATION  I.  411 

Joshua  the  high  priest,"  &c,  to  make  him  a  symbolic  type  of  the 
Messiah,  as  Loth  priest  and  king.  And  yet  farther,  to  show  that 
this  Avas  to  he  actually  done,  it  was  ordered  that  after  the  coronation 
is  over  and  has  served  its  present  purpose,  the  crowns  shall  he  de- 
posited in  the  temple  for  a  memorial  to  this  delegation  from  the  tar 
Eastern  land,  to  show  that  nations  from  far  were  yet  to  come  and 
build  in  the  temple  of  the  Lord.  Thus  every  special  feature  in  each 
class,  the  visions  on  the  one  hand  and  the  symbolic  actualities  of 
the  prophetic  life  on  the  other,  is  distinctly  drawn — so  distinctly  as 
to  leare  no  apology  for  misapprehension  or  mistake. 

Daniel,  throughout,  has  visions,  and  not  symbolic  acts  of  his 
own.  His  visions  embrace  more  or  less  objects  having  a  symbolic 
nature.  This,  however,  does  not  touch  the  point  of  discrimination 
now  before  us.  We  inquire  simply  after  the  line  between  things 
only  seen  by  the  prophet,  and  things  actually  done  by  him.  Daniel, 
in  chap.  2  interprets  Nebuchadnezzar's  dream.  In  chap.  7  he  is 
careful  to  say,  "Daniel  had  a  dream  and  visions  of  his  head  upon 
his  bed."  In  chap.  8,  "  a  vision  appeared  unto  me."  In  chap  9  : 
21-27,  the  man  Gabriel  came ;  and  in  chaps.  10-12  the  future  is  re- 
vealed to  him  by  an  angel.  Thus  everywhere  the  forms  of  state- 
ment are  full  and  definite  to  the  point  before  us. 

In  Jeremiah,  the  great  body  of  communications  read  simply, 
"  Thus  saith  the  Lord,"  and  the  narrative  presents  neither  visions 
nor  symbolic  acts.  But  chap.  24  records  a  vision,  introduced  thus : 
"The  Lord  showed  me,"  i.  e.,  two  baskets  of  figs ;  and  in  chaps.  18 
and  19  we  must  recognize  symbolic  transactions  in  real  life.  Here, 
too,  the  proof  of  this  lies  in  the  form  of  the  statement — "  Arise 
and  go  down  to  the  potter's  house,  and  there  will  I  cause  thee  to 
hear  my  words."  Here  is  something  to  be  done  before  the  revela- 
tion proper  from  the  Lord  even  begins.  More  still  to  our  argument 
is  the  implication  (v.  6)  that  the  house  of  Israel  are  witnesses  of 
what  was  done  by  the  potter.  "  O  house  of  Israel,  cannot  I  do 
with  you  as  this  potter  ? "  This,  of  course,  locates  the  scene  in 
the  external  world.  So  in  chap.  19,  something  is  to  be  actually  done 
in  the  outer  world :  "  Go  and  get  thee  a  potter's  earthen  bottle, 
and  take  of  the  ancients  of  the  people,  &c,  and  go  forth  unto  the 
valley  of  the  son  of  Hinnom  and  proclaim  there  the  words  that  I 
shall  tell  thee." — —A  part  of  this  message  stands  (vs.  3-9),  and 
then  in  v.  10  the  Lord  said,  "  Then  shalt  thou  break  the  bottle  in 
the  sight  of  the  men  that  go  with  thee  and  say.  Thus  saith  the 
Lord,  Even  so  will  I  break  this  people  and  this  city,  as  one  breaketh 
a  potter's  vessel,  that  cannot  be  made  whole  again." 

Here  we  have  the  usual  criteria  of  actuality.  Things  are  to  be 
said  and  done  by  the  prophet — not  merely  seen  in  vision  ;  and  they 
are  to  be  said  and  done  before  the  eyes  of  the  people.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  this  is  a  symbolic  transaction.  It  stands,  there- 
fore, as  further  proof  of  a  constant  divine  care  and  purpose  to  dis- 
tinguish between  visions  and  things  of  acWal  life,  done  for  the 
greater  effect  through  the  power  of  symbol. In  chap.  13,  the 


412  DISSERTATION  I. 

girdle  which  the  prophet  is  to  "go  to  the  Euphrates  and  hide 
there  in  a  hole  of  the  rock,"  must  be,  according  to  our  laws  of  con- 
struction, actual,  and  not  merely  visional,  although  it  were  a  long 
way  to  the  Euphrates  for  a  place  to  hide  it  and  let  it  rot.  That  very 
mission  to  the  Euphrates  had  its  object  and  its  special  significance. 
The  people  were  soon  to  go  there,  and  their  nationality  should  there 

decay,  not  to  say  be  marred  and  rot,  like  the  prophet's  girdle. The 

language  is  decisive — "  Go,  get  thee  a  linen  girdle ;  "  "  take  the  girdle 
and  arise,  go  to  Euphrates,"  &c.  There  is  nothing  said  of  "the 
hand  of  the  Lord  upon  him,"  or  of  being  "in  the  Spirit,"  or  "being 
in  vision,"  or  of  being  "brought  by  the  Spirit"  to  Euphrates,  &c. 

Hence  we  must  interpret  it  of  a  real  transaction. In  Jer.  27 

and  28,  the  bonds  and  yokes  to  be  made  by  the  Lord's  command  for 
the  neck  of  the  prophet,  and  to  be  sent  to  various  kings  whom  the 
Lord  had  made  subject  to  Nebuchadnezzar,  must  be  construed  as 
actual,  and  not  visional  only.  The  command  was — "Make  thee 
bonds  and  yokes,"  &c,  "  put  them  upon  thy  neck,  and  send  them  to 
"the  king  of  Edom,"  &c,  by  messengers,  and  "  command  them  to  say 
unto  their  masters,"  &c, — the  yoke  being  symbolic  of  the  main 
idea  of  the  message.  The  false  prophet  Hananiah,  who  confronted 
and  gainsayed  Jeremiah,  gave  a  counter-message,  professedly  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Lord,  and  then  to  symbolize  this,  took  the  yoke 
from  off  Jeremiah's  neck  and  broke  it.  For  this  daring  and  impi- 
ous lie,  the  Lord  doomed  him  to  die  within  the  year.  He  died  in 
the  seventh  month.  These  transactions  must,  beyond  a  doubt,  be 
interpreted  as  real,  and  not  of  vision  only. 

Isaiah  had  a  vision  (chap.  G)  indicated  by— "I  saw  the  Lord,  sit- 
ting upon  a  throne,"  &c. ;  but  Isa.  7  :  3,  must  be  actual :  "  go  forth  to 

meet  Ahaz." In  Isa.  20  the  Lord  commands  Isaiah  to  "  loose 

his  sackcloth  from  his  loins  and  put  off  his  shoes,  and  he  did  so, 
walking  naked  "  (i.  e.,  with  no  outer  garment)  "  and  barefoot."  The 
Lord  plainly  shows  this  to  be  a  real  transaction  when  he  says — 
"Like  as  my  servant  Isaiah  hath  walked  naked  and  barefoot  three 
years  for  a  sign  and  a  wonder  upon  Egypt  and  upon  Ethiopia,  so  shall 
the  king  of  Assyria  lead  away  the  Egyptians  prisoners,  naked  and 
barefoot."  The  fact  that  this  was  to  be  a  "  sign  " — a  thing  attract- 
ing wonder — proves  it  an  actuality.  Besides,  it  might  be  asked — 
What  could  be  the  use  of  this  thing,  if  done  in  vision  only?  The 
record,  however,  and  not  any  judgment  of  our  own  as  to  the  fitness 
or  propriety  of  the  things  for  either  vision  or  external  symbol,  must 
be  our  main  authority.  Every  where  we  see  th  at  the  Lord  intended  to 
make  the  record  itself  decisive  to  the  point  of  this  discrimination, 

Amos  had  visions  (7 :  1,  7,  8,  and  8  : 1,  2,  and  9 :  1,  ff.),  always 
indicated  by  the  usual  statements — "  The  Lord  showed  me,"  "I  saw 
the  Lord,"  &c. 

The  Book  of  Jonah  must  be  construed  as  actual  life,  and  not 
merely  prophetic  vision.  If  it  be  asked,  Why?  the  answer  is  fur- 
nished by  this  full  induction  of  all  the  cases  of  either  sort  found  in 
the  other  Old  Testament  prophets,  and  may  be  stated  briefly,  thus: 


DISSERTATION  I.  413 

(1.)  Tli ere  is  not  the  least  indication  of  a  vision  in  the  entire  book. 
(2.)  The  forms  of  statement  are  throughout  those  of  a  real  transac- 
tion— things  done  .and  suffered  by  the  prophet,  and  not  things  seen. 
(3.)  The  moral  aim  and  instruction  of  the  whole  book  demand  its 
interpretation  as  a  scene  of  actual,  real  life. Mythical  interpre- 
ters do  indeed  avoid  some  of  those  things  which  they  are  fain  to 
call  unnatural  and  impossible,  by  explaining  this  book  throughout  as 
a  myth,  or  a  thing  of  vision  only.  There  is  no  difficulty  in  sup- 
posing a  man  to  dream  of  being  swallowed  by  a  great  fish.  No ; 
but  there  ought  to  be  great  difficulty  in  overriding  the  plain,  ob- 
vious sense  of  the  Book  of  God.  A  solemn  responsibility  rests  on 
every  man  to  study  the  laws  of  prophetic  interpretation  with  both 
care  and  candor,  and  with  whatever  good  sense  the  Lord  may  give. 
Following  these  laws  of  prophetic  usage,  we  must  make  the  lo- 
custs in  Joel  (chap.  1  and  2)  literal  and  real,  not  ideal  and  things  of 
vision  only.  For  Joel  does  not  say,  "I  lifted  up  mine  eyes  and 
saw  " — does  not  say,  "  The  Lord  showed  me,"  or  that  "  the  hand  of 
the  Lord  was  there  upon  me."  He  simply  narrates  events  as 
matters  of  fact.  The  locusts  come  up  in  successive  swarms,  and 
utterly  desolate  the  land ;  the  people  are  famished,  and  turn  to  fast- 
ing and  prayer  for  the  divine  mercy.  This  belongs  to  real  life.  He 
.  further  describes  them  in  chap.  2 — "  They  look  like  horses ;  "  "  they 
run  like  horsemen  "  (v.  4) ;  and,  again,  "  they  run  like  mighty  men  " 
(v.  7) — which  certainly  is  not  saying  that  they  are  mighty  men,  and 
that  the  real  thing  was  never  a  locust-host,  but  only  a  raid  of  armed 

men. Over  against  this,  Amos  saw  locusts  in  vision,  for  he  says 

so :  this  is  the  proof.     He  says :  "  Thus  hath  the  Lord  caused  me  to 

see,  and  behold,  he  formed  locusts  "  (7 : 1). Hence  Dr.  Heng- 

stenberg,  though  an  excellent,  acute,  and  almost  faultless  commen- 
tator, is  manifestly  wrong  in  assuming  that  the  locusts  of  Joel  were 
never  actual,  but  only  ideal — only  seen  in  vision. 

"We  have  now  gone  through  the  cases  (all,  as  I  suppose)  that 
occur  in  the  various  Old  Testament  prophets,  bearing  on  the  point 
before  us,  designedly  omitting  none;  and  we  find  a  clear  line  of  dis- 
tinction drawn  between  the  things  seen  and  shown  in  vision  only, 
and  those  which  were  done  in  the  outward  life  for  symbolic  or 
other  purposes.  These  distinctions  lie  not  mainly — indeed,  scarcely 
at  all — in  the  nature  of  the  things  as  convenient  to  be  done,  or  as 
impossible,  but  in  the  very  form  of  the  statements.  In  other 
words,  the  Lord  has  been  specially  careful  to  leave  us  in  no  doubt 
as  to  what  was  actually  done  by  his  prophets  on  the  one  hand,  and 
what  was  only  seen  by  them  in  vision  on  the  other. 

Let  us  now  come  to  the  case  of  Hosea  (chapters  1  and  3).  "Was 
his  "  taking  a  lewd  wife  " — lewd  either  before  and  after  marriage, 
or  after  only — a  real  transaction ;  or  was  it  only  a  thing  seen  in 
vision?   Were  those  three  children,  and  their  significant  names, 

things  of  vision  only,  or  actualities  of  real  life? The  laws  of 

interpretation  are  already  educed  from  the  usage  of  all  the  other 
prophets,  with  whom  such  cases  occur  throughout  the  Old  Testa- 


414  DISSERTATION  I. 

ment.     It  only  remains  to  apply  them  here. (1.)  There  is  not  the 

least  intimation  that  these  things  are  in  vision  only.  He  does  not 
say — "The  Lord  showed  me,"  does  not  say  "I  saw,"  does  not  hint 
that  "  the  hand  of  the  Lord  is  upon  him,"  and  that  he  is  "  in  vision  " 
or  "  in  the  Spirit,"  so  that  he  might  see  such  things  done  in  the 
prophetic  ecstasy.  This  essential  evidence  of  a  mere  vision  is  al- 
together wanting. (2.)  On  the  other  hand,  the  language  of  com- 
mand is  explicit:  "Go,  take  unto  thee  a  wife  of  whoredoms,"  &c. 
The  entire  narrative  lacks  not  one  of  the  features  of  an  actual 
transaction.  The  children  are  horn  in  the  usual  succession  of  time 
(see  vs.  3,  8),  and  each  has  its  significant  name.  So  also  chap.  3  is 
the  natural  description  of  real  life.     Let  it  also  he  carefully  noted 

that  in  all  this  the  prophet  is  a  doer,  not  a  seer  only. (3.)  The 

reason  why  God  requires  this  of  his  prophet  is  specially  given,  viz., 
hecause  "  the  land  has  committed  great  whoredom  in  departing  from 
the  Lord."  There  was  therefore  a  fitness  in  having  this  fact  sym- 
bolized in  the  prophet's  family  state,  and  also  in  having  other  im- 
portant facts  symbolized  in  the  significant  names  of  his  children. 
And  it  may  have  been  a  further  reason  that  the  Lord  would  have 
his  prophet  sympathize  with  himself,  and  appreciate  more  keenly 
the  feelings  of  the  divine  mind  under  such  abuse. 

This  naturally  completes  the  argument,  so  far  as  concerns  the 
principles  and  laws  of  prophetic  interpretation.  That  usage  which 
rightly  gives  law  to  language  is  all  on  one  side,  and  if  the  authority 
of  this  law  be  admitted  at  all,  can  leave  no  doubt  as  to  the  right  in- 
terpretation in  this  particular  case. It  need  only  be  added  that 

if  this  law  of  language — prophetic  usage — be  discarded  in  this  case, 
it  may  be  in  any  and  every  other,  and  we  are  all  afloat,  with  no 

principles  of  interpretation  to  guide  us. It  amounts  to  little  to 

say  in  abatement  or  exception  to  this,  that  we  can  fall  back  upon 
our  own  sense  of  the  fitness  or  unfitness  of  the  things  to  be  done  in 
fact,  using  our  discretion  and  interpreting  that  as  done  in  vision  only 
which  seems  to  us  unfit  to  be  done  in  feet.  For  the  vital  question 
is — Docs  God  leave  us  to  this  exercise  of  our  own  discrimination, 
giving  us  no  other  data  for  determining  the  sense  of  his  words? 
Does  prophetic  usage  show  numerous  cases,  or  indeed  any  one  clear 
case,  in  which  there  is  only  this  discretion  to  guide  us  ?  The  examin- 
ation here  presented  should  suffice  (it  would  seem)  to  prove  the  neg- 
ative.  The  question  might  be  pressed — Would  it  be  safe  to  have 

with  men  the  discretion  and  responsibility  of  deciding  this  question 
by  their  own  sense  of  fitness?  The  care  God  has  taken  not  to  leave 
the  question  to  this  umpire  should  suffice  to  show  that  he,  at  least, 

has  not  thought  it  wise  to  do  so. Yet,  though  this  may  seem 

clear,  yet  some  excellent  men  and  able  interpreters  hold  the  opinion 
that  Hosea  took  this  wife  Gonier  no  otherwise  than  in  vision,  and 
had  these  children  born  to  him  only  in  the  sense  of  dreaming  it — 
seeing  them  so  born  in  prophetic  vision.  Their  main  reliance  in 
support  of  this  view  is  in  the  idea  that  marrying  a  "wife  of  whore* 
doms  "  and  having  "  children  of  whoredoms  "  in  real  life,  must  be 


DISSERTATION  II.  415 

immoral,  and  therefore  that  God  could  not  command  Ilosea  to  do 

it. 1  reply,  (1.)  The  force  of  this  objection  is  mainly  obviated  by 

the  supposition  (entirely  admissible  in  view  of  the  language  and 
history)  that  Gomer,  though  of  previously  lewd  habits,  had  become 
professedly  penitent  and  reformed,  and  was  accepted  by  the  prophet 
on  these  professions  of  penitence  and  promises  of  conjugal  fidelity. 
The  marriage  covenant  would  of  course  in  her  case  involve  these 

promises. Like  Israel,  in  relation  to  her  covenant  God,  she  too 

may  have  lapsed  again,  and  so  have  symbolized  the  more  forcibly 

the  course  of  that  guilty  nation  toward  God. (2.)  It  need  not 

be  claimed  that  Ilosea,  or  any  other  man,  would  choose  to  marry  a 
woman  of  previously  bad  life,  even  upon  any  professions  of  amend- 
ment, however  fair.  The  special  command  of  the  Lord  in  this  case 
assumes  that  the  thing  required  was  a  hardship — a  thing  that  no 
good  man  would  be  likely  to  'do,  save  under  a  positive  command 

from  God  and  for  a  very  special  purpose. (3.)  In  this  view  of  it 

the  transaction  cannot  be  regarded  as  immoral  in  the  prophet. 
Hence  the  moral  objection  against  it  as  a  reality,  loses  its  force. 

The  application  of  these  principles  of  interpretation  to  that  sys- 
tem which  converts  the  simple  narratives  of  Scripture  into  myths, 
will  be  readily  seen.     It  must  suffice  here  only  to  suggest  it. 


DISSERTATION  II. 

ON     TWO     MILLENNIAL     THEORIES. 

The  theories  here  discussed  are : 

I.  That  the  Old  Testament  prophecies  of  the  millennium  treat 
of  the  heavenly  as  well  as  of  the  millennial  state  ;  that  in  giving  a 
general  view  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah,  they  describe  first  in 
the  order  of  time,  the  New  Testament  age  and  its  peculiarities  as 
contrasted  with  the  Jewish  ;  but  that  then,  in  addition  to  this,  they 
pass  over  by  analogy,  or  by  a  natural  continuation  of  the  same 
theme,  to  give  also  the  eternal  blessedness  of  the  saints  in  heaven 
after  the  resurrection  and  general  judgment. 

II.  The  second  theory  denies  all  reference  of  these  prophecies 
to  the  New  Testament  age,  and  locates  their  fulfilment  exclusively, 
as  to  time,  after  the  resurrection  and  the  judgment  day;  as  to 
space,  upon  this  earth,  purified  by  the  fires  of  the  last  day,  and  made 
the  eternal  abode  of  the  righteous.     This  theory  excludes  all  promise 

of  the  conversion  of  the  world  to  Christ. The  principal  passages 

here  referred  to  as  millennial  are — in  the  minor  prophets — Joel  3: 
17-21 ;  Amos  9  :  11-15  ;    Mic.  4:1-8;    Zeph.  3  :  9-20  ;    Zech.  14 : 

6-9,  16,  20,  21. In  other  prophets,  Isa.  4:2-6,  and  9  : 1-7,  and 

11,  and  35,  and  54,  and  60,  and  66:  18-24;    Jer.  31:  31-40;  and 
Ezek.  36  :  25-28,  and  37  :  21-28,  and  47 : 1-12. 

Taking  up  first  in  order  the  theory  first  named  above,  let  us  note 


410  DISSERTATION  II. 

the  main  arguments  adduced  in  support  of  it,  viz. : 1.  These 

prophecies  describe  a  state  too  holy  to  be  realized  in  such  a  world 

as  this,  under  its  present  physical  laws. 2.  The  state  described 

is  too  long  to  be  exhausted  in  this  world,  inasmuch  as  it  is  repeat- 
edly said  to  continue  forever. 3.  The  Old  Testament  reveals  no 

heaven,  unless  it  be  in  these  prophecies.  The  results  of  Messiah's 
work  for  our  race  are  exceedingly  incomplete  without  a  somewhat 
full  revelation  of  its  great  consummation  in  an  eternal  heaven  for 
the  saints.     Hence  we  have  a  right  to  expect  a  revelation  of  heaven 

in  these  prophecies. Eeplying  to  these  arguments  in  their  order, 

I  admit,  as  to  the  first,  that  the  language  implies  a  high  standard  of 
holiness,  very  much  in  advance  of  the  average  under  the  Jewish 
dispensation,  with  which  it  would  of  necessity  be  tacitly  compared. 

Thus  (Joel  3  :  17) — "  Jerusalem  shall  be  holy ;  and  there  shall 

no  stranger  pass  through  her  any  more." Zeph.  3  :  9 — "  For 

then  will  I  turn  to  the  people  a  pure  language,  that  they  may  all 
call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  to  serve  him  with  one  consent." 

Zech.  14  :  20,  21 — "  In  that  day  shall  there  be  upon  the  bells 

of  the  horses  holiness  unto  the  Lord,  &c. ;  and  in  that  day  there 
shall  be  no  more  the  Canaanite  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  of  hosts." 

See  also  Isa.  4:  3,  4,  and  11 :  9,  and  35  :  8,  and  54:  13,  and  GO: 

18-21 ;  and  Jer.  31 :  31-34;  and  Ezek.  37 :  23. 

But  this  feature  of  these  prophecies  does  not  necessarily  carry 

their  fulfilment  over  to  the  heavenly  state,  because (1.)  The 

gospel  system  provides  for  a  high  degree  of  holiness  in  the  present 
life,  especially  through  Christ's  intercessions  for  his  people,  his 
manifested  presence  with  them,  and  the  indwelling  of  his  Spirit 
with  power  in  their  hearts.  Hence  Christ  himself  says  :  '"  I  pray 
that  thou  wouldest  keep  them  from  the  evil  "  (John  17 :  15).  "  My 
grace  is  sufficient  for  thee,  for  my  strength  is  made  perfect  in  weak- 
ness "  (2  Cor.  12 :  9).    Paul  testifies  :  "  I  can  do  all  things  through 

Christ  who  strengtheneth  me  (Phil.  4 :  13). (2.)  Those  prophecies 

which  give  us  the  largest  promises  of  spiritual  lite  and  power  indicate 
their  own  fulfilment  in  the  present  world  and  in  the  New  Testament 
age.  Some  of  them  are  cited  by  inspired  apostles  with  this  under- 
standing, e.  g.  (Joel  2 :  28-32),  the  great  promise  of  the  effusion  of 
the  Spirit  which  Peter  affirmed  began  to  be  fulfilled  at  the  opening 
of  the  gospel  age  (Acts  2  :  16,  If. ;  also  Gen.  22  :  18),  "  In  thy  seed  (Je- 
sus Christ)  shall  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed."  This  Pe- 
ter applies  (Acts  3 :  25,  26) :  "  Unto  you  first,  God  having  raised  up 
his  Son  Jesus,  sent  him  to  bless  you  in  turning  away  every  one  of 
you  from  your  iniquities."   This,  then,  is  a  case  showing  how  all  the 

nations  are  to  he  blessed  in  Christ. So  the  great  promise  of  the 

new  covenant,  which  stands  at  the  head  of  the  predictions  of  emi- 
nent holiness  (Jer.  31 :  31-34)  is  cited  (Heb.  8 :  8-13)  as  being  the 
very  genius  and  soul  of  the  gospel  dispensation. That  extraor- 
dinary promise  of  moral  cleansing  by  the  Spirit  (Ezek.  36  :  25-28), 
"  I  will  sprinkle  clean  water  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be  clean  ;  from 
all  your  filthiness  will  I  cleanse  you  ;  I  will  put  my  Spirit  within 


DISSERTATION  II.  417 

you  and  cause  you  to  walk  in  my  statutes,"  &c.,  proceeds  to  say: 
"  And  ye  shall  dwell  in  the  land  that  I  gave  to  your  fathers  " — aa 
much  as  to  say — These  promises  belong  to  earth  and  not  to  heaven ; 
to  this  world  in  its  present  state,  and  not  to  the  next,  after  these 

heavens  and  this  earth  shall  have  passed  away. (3.)  While  the 

New  Testament  descriptions  of  the  heavenly  state  affirm  an  abso 
lute  perfection,  and  make  it  sure  by  the  beatific  presence  of  the 
Saviour,  the  prophecies  in  question  fall  manifestly  short  of  this, 
especially  so  if  we  may  even  proximately  estimate  the  holiness  they 
promise  by  the  experience  of  any  period  of  the  gospel  age  which 

has  thus  far  transpired.- Thus  the  New  Testament  witnesses  of 

the  heavenly  state :  "  We  know  that  when  he  (Christ)  shall  appear, 
we  shall  be  like  him,  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is  "  (1  John  2  :  2). 

"  Neither  can  they  die  any  more,  for  they  are  equal  to  the 

angels,  and  are  the  children  of  God,  being  children  of  the  resurrec- 
tion" (Luke  20:  36). The  Old  Testament  prophecies  fall  some- 
what short  of  this. 

2.  I  pass  to  the  second  argument,  viz.,  that  these  prophecies 
apply  not  to  the  earthly  state,  but  to  the  heavenly,  because  they 

represent  it  as  being  eternal. To  this  I  answer:  (1.)  It  may  be 

admitted  that  possibly  a  few  of  these  passages  conceive  of  the  Mes- 
siah's reign  as  holding  over  beyond  this  world  to  the  heavenly — an 
absolutely  eternal  reign — yet  without  giving  any  special  account  of 

that  heavenly  state. Supposing  this  to  be  true,  all  the  specific 

features  of  this  millennial  state,  except  its  absolute  eternity,  belong 
to  this  world  and  to  time  ;  so  that  this  admission  abstracts  nothing 

from  the  glories  of  the  millennial  state. And  yet  it  would  bo 

somewhat  difficult  to  find  the  passages  that  clearly  hold  over  to  the 
future  world.  If  you  say  they  are  Dan.  2  :  44,  and  7:  14,  18,  27, 
the  negative  side  of  the  description,  "  shall  not  be  left  to  other  peo- 
ple, but  shall  break  in  pieces  and  consume  all  these  kingdoms  " — 
ik which  shall  not  pass  away"  (supplanted  by  some  conquering 
power) ;  and  the  fact  that  the  saints  shall  take  the  kingdom  and 
possess  it  forever ;  "  also,  that  it  is  the  kingdom  and.  dominion 
under  the  wThole  heaven,  not  in  heaven,  go  far  to  show  that  the 
thought  here  is  specially  of  this  world,  and  not  of  the  eternal  one. 

Again,  Micah  says :  "  The  Lord  shall  reign  over  them  in  Mount 

Zion  from  henceforth  even  forever ;  "  but  the  reigning  w  Mount 
Zion,  and  the  previous  "  assembling  of  her  that  halteth  and  her 
that  was  cast  far  off,"  hold  the  mind  to  this  earthly  state  as  Hie 

thing  specially  in  view. (2.)  Many  of  these  descriptions  forbid 

us  to  think  of  an  absolute  eternity.  Thus  (Joel  3  :  20),  "  But  Judah 
shall  dwell  forever,  and  Jerusalem  from  generation  to  generation  " 
— where  the  last  clause,  being  parallel,  is  explanatory,  and  assumes 
a  succession  of  generations  not  to  be  thought  of  in  the  heavenly 

state. So  the  parallel  clause  in  Isa.  60:  15 — "I  will  make  thee 

an  eternal  excellency,  a  joy  of  many  generations." Note  also  the 

indications  of  time  in  the  "  new  heavens  and  new  earth  "  of  Isa. 
65  :  22,  where  you  might  expect  an  absolutely  eternal  state — "For 
18* 


418  DISSERTATION  II. 

as  the  days  of  a  tree  are  the  days  of  my  people,  and  mine  elect 

shall  long-  enjoy  the  work  of  their  hands." The  passage  (Ezek.  37  : 

21-28)  expresses  the  duration  of  its  events  by  "forever"  (v.  25), 
and  by  "for  evermore"  (vs.  26,  28),  but  it  also  locates  the  Lord's 
people  "in  the  land  upon  the  mountains  of  Israel;"  affirms  that 
"the  heathen  shall  know  that  I  the  Lord  do  sanctify  Israel,"  as- 
suming that  some  heathen  still  live  on  the  earth  and  are  cognizant 
of  her  condition;  and  also  declares — "I  will  set  my  sanctuary  in 
the  midst  of  them  for  evermore  " — "  yea,  I  will  be  their  God  and 
they  shall  be  my  people  " — a  passage  which  Paul  (2  Cor.  6 :  16) 
manifestly  assumes  to  have  its  fulfilment  in  the  Christian  age  of 
the  world. Thus  it  might  be  shown  that  many  of  these  proph- 
ecies which  affirm  eternal  duration  most  strongly  embrace  points 
which  locate  their  fulfilment  on  earth,  in  time,  and  not   in  heaven 

during  the  eternal  state. (3.)  None  of  these  prophecies  give  us 

any  marks  by  which  we  can  distinguish  between  what  belongs  to 
this  world  and  what  to  the  next,  the  heavenly.  The  Few  Testa- 
ment descriptions  of  heaven  never  fail  to  furnish  these  marks  of 
discrimination,  as  is  apparent  in  Matt.  25  :  34  ;  Luke  16  :  22,  25,  26 ; 
and  even  in  Rev.  21  and  22,  which  chapters  follow  the  final  judg- 
ment: the  first  heaven  and  the  first  earth  have  passed  away;  the 
holy  city  is  the  New  Jerusalem,  built  in  heaven,  and  has  no  temple 
in  it ;  the  wicked  are  all  in  the  lake  that  burnetii  with  fire ;  the 

righteous  enjoy  the  beatific  presence  of  God  and  the  Lamb. 

Criteria  of  this  sort  are  wholly  wanting  in  the  millennial  proph- 
ecies of  the  Old  Testament. (4.)  Unlike  the   New  Testament 

descriptions  of  heaven,  these  prophecies  give  us  no  intimation  that 
their  scenes  transpire  after  death,  the  resurrection,  and  the  general 

judgment. (5.)  The  prophetic  state  which  is  said  to  continue 

"forever,"  is  in  many  cases  described  with  Jewish  costume;  in 
other  words,  the  Jews  dwell  in  their  own  land,  with  their  temple 
and  ritual  institutions  complete;  the  Gentiles  come  up  to  Jeru- 
salem to  build  and  beautify  that  temple,  and  to  worship  therein — 
all  legitimate  as  descriptions  of  the  millennial  state  on  earth,  but 
scarcely  admissible  as  descriptions  of  the  real  heaven  beyond  death 

and  the  judgment. (6.)  The  New  Testament  does  not  locate  heaven 

upon  this  earth,  but  elsewhere.  Always  it  is  a  place  to  which  resi- 
dents of  earth  are  said  to  "  go  "  and  to  "  depart ;  "  of  which  Christ 
said,  "  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you."  But  of  this  more  fully  here- 
after.  (7.)  The  only  uniform  and  reliable  principle  by  which  the 

terms  "everlasting,  "forever,"  &c,  can  be  explained,  is  that 
which  makes  them  relative,  i.  <?.,  as  long  as  the  nature  of  the  subject 
which  they  qualify  will  admit.  Thus  "  eternal  punishment,"  under 
the  government  of  God  must  be  as  long  as  God's  government  ex- 
ists; "everlasting  mountains "  will  stand  while  the  world  stands; 
"  an  ordinance  forever  "  will  remain  only  so  long  as  the  system  to 
which  it  pertains.  It  is  only  on  this  principle  that  the  Jewish  fes- 
tivals (Lev.  23  :  14,  21,  31,  41)  are  everlasting,  or  the  Aaronic  priest- 
hood (Ex.  40:  15  and  Num.  25  :  10).  I-  r  they  ceased  with  the  passing 


DISSERTATION  II.  419 

away  ot  the  system  of  which  they  formed  a  part. On  this  prin- 
ciple the  millennial  ,l  forever  "  would  be  indefinitely  long,  yet  would, 
or  at  least  might  close,  in  that  special  form,  with  the  end  of  this 

world.  7         ...        e 

3.  To  the  argument  that  the  Old  Testament  reveals  nothing  o± 
the  heavenly  state  except  in  these  prophecies ;  that  the  results  of 
Messiah's  reign  are  altogether  incomplete  without  a  soinewhatfull 
revelation  of  its  heavenly  state  ;  and  that  therefore  we  have  a  right 
to  expect  something  definite  of  heaven  in  these  Old  Testament 

prophecies— I  answer; (1.)  The  first  statement  is  not  strictly 

correct.  The  real  heaven  stands  forth  revealed  in  such  passages  as 
the  following:  " Thou  wilt  show  me  the  path  of  life:  in  thy  pres- 
ence is  fulness  of  joy;  at  thy  right  hand  there  are  pleasures  tor 

evermore  "  (Ps.  16  :  11). "  As  for  me,  I  shall  behold  thy  face  in 

righteousness;  I  shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake  with  thy  like- 
ness" (Ps.  IT:  15).— " Thou  shalt  guide  me  with  thy  counsel,  and 
afterward  receive  me  to  glory.  Whom  have  I  in  heaven  but  thee, 
and  there  is  none  upon  earth  that  I  desire  besides  thee.  My  flesh 
and  my  heart  faileth ;  but  God  is  the  strength  of  my  heart,  and  my 

portion  forever  "  (Ps.  73  :  24-20). "  Many  of  them  that  sleep  in 

the  dust  of  the  earth  shall  awake,  some  to  everlasting  life,  and  some 
to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt.  And  they  that  be  wise  shall 
shine  as  the  brightness  of  the  firmament ;  and  they  that  turn  many 

to  righteousness  as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever." (2.)  Of  the 

other  points,  I  remark,  (a.)  that  the  revelations  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment must  be  admitted  to  be  incomplete  compared  with  those  ot 
the  New,  especially  in  respect  to  the  future  world ;  the  resurrec- 
tion the  final  judgment,  and  the  ultimate  destiny  of  the  righteous 
and 'of  the  wicked. (&.)  It  is  rather  the  genius  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment to  reveal  the  great  fact  of  a  present  moral  government  over 
nations,  and  also  largely  over  individuals  as  well— administered  m 
this  world  by  present  rewards  and  penalties ;  and  then  to  leave  the 
future  destiny  of  men  to  ue  inferred  from  this  great  fact  of  present 

retribution. (p.)  Remarkably,  the  future  existence  of  the  soul, 

the  future  blessedness  of  the  righteous,  and  misery  of  the  wicked, 
are  rather  assumed  than  affirmed,  e.  g.,  the  existence  of  the  soul 
after  death,  in  Exodus  3  :  6  :  "lam  the  God  of  thy  fathers,  the 
God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob.  Our 
divine  Lord  teaches  us  how  to  bring  out  from  this  passage  the 
underlying  assumption  of  the  soul's  continued  existence  (Matt.  22  : 
32)  •  "God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead  but  of  the  living  "—where 
"  dead  "  must  be  taken  in  the  Sadducean  sense— non-existent.  Jehovah 
could  not  be  the  God  of  nonentities ;  hence  Abraham,  Isaac,  and 

Jacob  are  shown  to  be  still  living. So  the  resurrection  is  assumed 

to  be  known  in  those  striking  passages  where  it  is  used  as  a  figure 
to  represent  analogous  changes  in  the  state  of  the  nations,  viz.,  lsa. 
2G  •  14  19  •  "  They  "  (God's  enemies)  are  dead,  they  shall  not  live ; 
they  are  deceased,  they  shall  not  rise."  "  Thy  dead  men  shall  live, 
together  with  my  dead  body  shall  they  arise.     Awake  and  sing,  ye 


420  DISSERTATION  H. 

that  dwell  in  dust,  for  thy  dew  is  as  the  dew  of  herbs,  and  the 

earth  shall  cast  out  the  dead." Or  the  well-known  passage,  Ezek. 

37 : 1-14,  the  vision  of  the  yahey  of  dry  bones,  raised  from  the 
dead,  and  figuratively  representing  how  God  revives  the  hope  and 

the  national  spirit  of  his  captive  people. Dan.  12 :  2,  recently 

cited,  comes  nearer  to  a  formal  affirmation  of  the  resurrection  than 
any  thing  else  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  yet  it  was  not  the  design 
of  that  passage  to  affirm  the  universal  resurrection.  The  Old 
Testament  nowhere  teaches  this  doctrine  in  a  didactic,  elementary 
way,  as  our  Saviour  does  (John  5 :  28,  29).  It  is  quietly  assumed. 
So  the  future  blessedness  of  the  righteous  is  assumed — in- 
ferrible from  his  blessedness  here  in  time — and  on  the  same  princi- 
ple, the  final  woe  of  the  wicked. (d.)  It  should  not  be  forgotten 

that  according  to  the  New  Testament,  Jesus  Christ  "  brought  life 
and  immortality  to  light  through  the  gospel."  This  cannot  mean 
less  than  that  life  and  immortality  were  not  really  drought  to  light 
until  Christ  came.     Those  great  truths  had   lain  in  comparative 

obscurity,  with  only  dim  and  flickering  rays  falling  around. 

(e.)  It  is  not  altogether  safe  or  wise  for  us  to  assume  that  certain 
things  ought  to  appear  in  the  Old  Testament.  The  Lord  has  his 
own  views  and  plans  as  to  the  order  and  method  of  his  revelations 
to  man. 

Second  TJieory. — This  theory  denies  all  reference  of  these  proph- 
ecies to  the  New  Testament  age,  and  locates  their  fulfilment  as  to 
time,  after  the  resurrection  and  judgment  day; — as  to  space,  upon 
this  earth  purified  by  the  fires  of  the  last  day,  and  made  the  eternal 
abode  of  the  righteous.  It  excludes  all  promise  of  the  conversion 
of  the  world  to  Christ. 

Of  this  I  have  to  say — 1.  Kit  be  true,  it  is  doubtless  susceptible 
of  very  clear  and  strong  proof.  The  points  it  assumes  to  be  true  are 
entirely  tangible.     If  taught  in  the  Scriptures  at  all,  they  would  be 

likely  to  appear  in  tangible  forms. 2.  A  theory  which  robs  the 

Church  of  God  of  so  many  of  her  glorious  hopes  for  the  future 
prosperity  of  Zion,  and  for  the  Saviour's  joy  in  the  travail  of  his 
soul ; — which  smites  down  so  many  of  her  best  impulses  and  motives 
to  missionary  zeal  and  self-sacrifice,  ought  to  be  well  grounded,  or 
else  not  be  believed  at  all.  A  theory  which  so  eclipses  the 
glories  of  heaven  as  well  as  the  best  hopes  for  our  present  earth, 
can  have  but  small  hold,  it  would  seem,  on  our  Christian  sympa- 
thies. Yet,  if  it  be  true,  let  us  bear  it  in  submission,  though  in 
sorrow ;  but  if  it  be  not  true,  let  us  hurl  it  from  us  as  the  robber 

of  our  best  heritage. 3.  This  theory  cannot  be  true  and  must  be 

false,  because  the  conversion  of  the  world  to  Christ  is  taught  and 

implied  in  the  word  of  God  most  abundantly. (1.)  It  is  the  plain 

significance  of  those  prophecies  which  are  clothed  most  fully  in 
Jewish  costume  and  figures,  representing  Israel  and  Judah  in  the 
gospel  age  as  dwelling  in  their  own  land  with  their  temple  standing 
and  ritual  service  entire ;  and  Gentiles  coming  up  from  all  the  ends 
of  the  earth  to  worship  the  one  Lord  there. See  notes  on  Hos. 


DISSERTATION  II.  421 

1 :  10, 11,  and  on  Zech.  12  :  1-9. (2.)  In  another  class  of  proph- 
ecies which  have  far  less  of  Jewish  costume,  the  same  great  truth 
is  undeniably  taught ; — e.  g.,  Ps.  2  :  8 — "  I  will  give  thee  (the  Messiah) 
the  heathen  for  thine  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth  for  thy  possession."  Ps.  22  :  27,  28  :  "  All  the  ends  of  the 
earth  shall  remember  and  turn  unto  the  Lord,  and  all  the  kindreds 
of  the  nations  shall  worship  before  thee.  For  the  kingdom  is  the 
Lord's,  and  he  is  Governor  among  the  nations."  Ps.  72:8,  17: 
"He  shall  have  dominion  also  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river 
to  the  ends  of  the  earth."  ....  "  And  men  shall  be  blessed  in  him ; 

all  nations  shall  call  him  blessed." Mai.  1 :  11 :    "For  from  the 

rising  of  the  sun  even  to  the  going  down  of  the  same  my  name  shall 
be  great  among  the  Gentiles,  and  in  every  place,  incense  shall  be 
offered  to  my  name,  and  a  pure  offering ;  for  my  name  shall  be 
great  among  the  heathen,  saitk  the  Lord  of  hosts."     See  also  Gen. 

22:  18,  and  49:10. (3.)  Such  passages  as  Isa.  52:13-15,  and 

53 :  10-12,  show  that  the  Messiah  shall  be  gloriously  successful 
relatively  to  Satan  and  sin  in  the  very  work  of  saving  men— shall 
be  exalted  high  in  triumph  because  of  his  great  humiliation  and 
sufferings,  and  in  view  of  the  fruits  thereof;  "  shall  sprinkle  many 
nations  ;"  "  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul  till  he  is  satisfied  ;" 
shall  have  the  great  for  his  portion,  and  a  large  share  of  the  spoil 

after  the  battle  with  sin  and  Satan  is  fought  through. Gen.  3  : 

15  runs  in  the  same  strain,  confirming  the  glorious  truth  that  the 
masses  of  the  human  family  are  to  be  ultimately  for  Christ  and  not 
for  Satan.     Of  course,  no  such  result  can  be  without  an  indefinitely 

long  millennial  state  upon  this  earth. (4.)  The  New  Testament 

confirms  this  view  by  teaching  the  same  thing.  See  Eom.  11 :  15, 
25,  26  :  "  For  if  the  casting  away  of  them  be  the  reconciling  of  the 
world,  what  shall  the  receiving  of  them  be,  but  life  from  the  dead? 
For  I  would  not,  brethren,  that  ye  should  be  ignorant  of  this 
mystery,  lest  ye  should  be  wise  in  your  own  conceits  ;  that  blind- 
ness in  part  is  happened  to  Israel,  until  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles 
be  come  in.  And  so  all  Israel  shall  be  saved :  as  it  is  written, 
There  shall  come  out  of  Sion  the  Deliverer,  and  shall  turn  away 
ungodliness  from  Jacob."  And  Kev.  11 :  15  :  "  And  the  seventh 
angel  sounded;  and  there  were  great  voices  in  heaven,  saying, 
The  kingdoms  of  this  world  are  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord, 
and  of  his  Christ ;  and  he  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever."  These 
predictions  are  exceedingly  definite  and  explicit.  It  need  not 
surprise  us  that  their  number  is  no  greater.  The  New  Testament 
writers  believed  in  Old  Testament  prophecy,  and  held  its  testimony 

to  this  point  to  be  abundantly  adequate. (5.)  Yet  further,  the 

New  Testament  most  fully  endorses  the  application  of  these  proph- 
ecies to  the  gospel  age,  and  especially  to  the  conversion  of  the 
Gentiles,  and  to  the  ultimate  union  of  Jews  and  Gentiles  in  the  same 
earthly  Church  and  kingdom  of  God.  It  is  not  easy  to  conceive 
how  they  could  more  strongly  endorse  both  this  interpretation  of 


422  DISSERTATION  II. 

these  prophecies  and  its  reliability,  than  by  quoting  them  as  proof 
of  these  very  points. 

Here  let  us  note  how  Paul  (Acts  13  :  47)  quotes  Isa.  49  :  6 :  "  We 
turn  to  the  Gentiles ;  for  so  hath  the  Lord  commanded  us  :  I  have 
set  thee  (the  Messiah)  to  be  a  light  of  the  Gentiles,  that  thou 
shouldest  be  for  salvation  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth." 

The  chapter  here  quoted  from  is  one  of  the  most  decisive  and 
rich  prophecies  of  the  world's  conversion.  Note  also  how  James 
(Acts  15 :  15-18)  cites  Amos  9 :  11,  12  :  "  Simon  (Peter)  hath  de- 
clared how  God  at  first  did  visit  the  Gentiles,  &c,  and  to  this  agree 
the  words  of  the  prophet,  as  it  is  written  :  After  this  I  will  return, 
and  will  build  again  the  tabernacle  of  David,  which  is  fallen  down  ; 
and  I  will  build  again  the  ruins  thereof,  and  I  will  set  it  up,  that  the 
residue  of  men  might  seek  after  the  Lord,  and  all  the  Gentiles,  upon 
whom  my  name  is  called,  saith  the  Lord,  who  doeth  all  these 
things.  Known  unto  God  are  all  his  works  from  the  beginning  of 
the  world;  "  as  if  he  would  intimate  that  God  had  planned  the  con- 
version of  the  Gentiles  from  the  very  creation  of  man. In  the 

same  way  Paul  (Rom.  11 :  26,  27)  quotes  Isa.  59:  20,  and  in  Eom. 
15  :  18-12  quotes  several  prophecies,  and  among  them  Isa.  11 — one 

of  the  first-class  prophecies  of  the  conversion  of  the  world. Thus 

do  the  apostles,  after  being  fully  taught  by  the  Spirit,  see  in  these 
prophecies  that  God  had  purposed  and  foretold  the  conversion  of 
the  Gentiles  to  Christ,  and  the  ultimate  union  of  both  Jews  and 
Gentiles  in  the  Christian  Church.  They  make  the  same  use  of 
these  prophecies  that  we  ought  to  make  now,  as  the  ground  of  faith 
and  the  fountain  of  impulse  to  self-denying  labor  for  the  gathering 
of  all  nations  into  the  Messiah's  kingdom.  It  never  entered  their 
mind  that  these  prophecies  teach  nothing  about  the  conversion  of 
men,  but  only  promise  a  sort  of  heavenly  paradise  on  this  earth 
after  probation  shall  have  closed.  They  never  cite  these  jyrophecies 
as  teaching  and  proving  this  modern  doctrine.  They  do  continually 
cite  them  to  prove  that,  through  the  effusions  of  the  Spirit  and  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel,  Gentiles  and  Jews  shall  be  converted  to 
Christ.  That  they  expected  the  fulfilment  of  these  prophecies  in 
the  present  world  by  means  of  these  gospel  agencies,  the  divine  and 
the  human,  is  beyond  all  doubt.  Hence,  if  their  testimony  be  ad- 
mitted, it  decides  the  question. 

4.  If  it  be  fully  admitted  that  these  prophecies  pledge  the  conver- 
sion of  the  world  to  Christ,  the  further  question  respecting  the  locality 
of  the  future  heavenly  state  loses  most  of  its  importance.  Not  all  of 
it,  however,  for  the  natural  tendency  of  the  notion  that  the  future 
heaven  is  to  be  on  this  earth,  is  material  as  opposed  to  spiritual — not 
to  say  even  sensual  and  carnal — exceedingly  unlike  the  tendency  and 
influence  of  those  New  Testament  descriptions  which  make  heaven 
consist  essentially  in  being  "forever  with  the  Lord,"  and  in  so 
"beholding  his  glory"  that  we  become  thereby  forever  "like  him." 

See  1  John  3:  2,  and  Thess.  4: 17. Tt  may  not  bo  superfluous, 

therefore,  to  say,  that  the  evidence  in  the  Scriptures  to  prove  that 


DISSERTATION  II.  423 

this  earth  is  to  be  the  future  heaven  of  the  saints  is  exceedingly 

meagre. The.  heaven  of  the  Scriptures  is  already  in  existence, 

long  before  this  earth  is  purified.  Myriads  have  already  gone  before 
to  that  other  better  world.  Everywhere  in  the  Scriptures  it  is  a 
place  to  which  one  goes  from  this  world.  As  said  by  our  Lord : 
"In  my  father's  house  are  many  mansions;  I  go  to  prepare  a  place 
for  you."  (Did  he  mean  by  these  words  that  he  was  then  going  to 
burn  tills  world  up,  and  purify  it  for  a  heaven  ?)  He  adds :  "  I  will 
come  again,  and  (not  dwell  with  you  on  this  earth,  but)  receive  you 
to  myself,  that  where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also  "  (John  14:  2,  3.) 

Paul  "  desired  to  depart,  and  to  be  with  Christ."  At  the  very 
time  wThen  the  theory  in  question  would  plant  the  saints  in  this 
glorified  earth,  Paul  assigns  them  a  very  different  location  :  "  Them 
also  that  sleep  in  Jesus  will  God  bring  with  Mm,  i.  e.,  up  to  heaven  ; 
and  those  who  are  then  alive  (not  having  tasted  death)  shall  be 
caught  up  together  with" — the  previously  dead  now  raised — "in 
the  clouds,  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air,"  and  "they  inherit  the  king- 
dom prepared  for  them  (not  at  the  end  of  the  world,  but)  from  the 

foundation  of  the  world." But  it  is  claimed  that  Isaiah,  Peter,  and 

John  teach  this  doctrine  under  the  phrase,  "  The  new  heavens  and 
the  new  earth"  (Isa.  G5  :  17,  18 ;  2  Pet.  3 :  13,  and  Eev.  21  and  22.) 
In  few  words  as  possible,  I  reply  :  («.)  The  important  declara- 
tions in  Isaiah  are  :  "  Behold,  I  create  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth ; 
the  former  shall  not  be  remembered  nor  come  into  mind.  .  .  .  But 
be  ye  glad  and  rejoice  forever  in  that  w7hich  I  create,  for,  behold,  I 

create  Jerusalem  a  rejoicing,  and  her  people  a  joy,"  &c. Thjs  is 

obviously  a  great  moral  change,  and  not  a  physical  one,  as  when 
Paul  says,  "If  any  man  be  in  Christ,  there  is  a  new  creation." 
(This  is  the  original.)  Isaiah  himself  explains  it  to  mean  "  I  create 
Jerusalem  a  rejoicing,  and  her  people  a  joy,"*,  e.,  a  cause  or  ground 
of  joy  to  all  who  love  God  and  holiness.  The  context  still  further 
proves  that  the  prophet  speaks  of  the  millennial  state  in  this  world 
of  probation  as  produced  under  the  gospel,  and  not  of  the  state  of 

retribution  subsequent  to  the  resurrection  and  final  judgment. 

(b.)  Peter,  having  described  the  burning  of  the  earth  and  the  works 
that  are  therein,  adds,  "Nevertheless  we,  according  to  his  promise, 
look  for  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  right- 
eousness." But  this  falls  far  short  of  affirming  that  the  saints  shall 
dwell  forever  in  this  new  earth.  It  just  as  much  affirms  that  they 
shall  dwell  forever  in  these  new  heavens.  It  does  not  specially 
affirm  either.  Hence  this  text  will  scarcely  suffice  for  a  corner- 
stone of  any  entire  system  of  doctrine  respecting  the  future  location 
of  the  saints.  There  are  too  many  doubtful  points  in  its  interpre- 
tation. It  is  doubtful  what  Peter  refers  to  by  "  his  promise.''''  He 
may  refer  to  some  unwritten  promise  from  the  Saviour's  own  lips  ; 

or  to  Isa.  G5:  17;  or  possibly  to  Rev.  21. (c.)  John,  in  Eev.  21 

and  22,  most  distinctly  locates  the  saints  before  and  around  the 
throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb  ;  represents  them  as  dwelling  in.  a 
great   and    glorious  city — the  new  Jerusalem  (which  manifestly 


424  DISSERTATION  II. 

must  be  taken  as  Jewish  costume)— but  is  very  far  indeed  from 
affirming  that  the  location  of  this  heavenly  state  is  on  this  earth. 
Indeed,  he  does  not  tell  us  where  this  holy  city  is  located.  It  was 
no  part  of  his  design  to  give  its  celestial  geography. 

If  these  brief  suggestions  shall  conduce  to  save  the  millennial 
prophecies  from  the  perverting  influence  of  unfounded  theories,  and 
leave  them  to  stand  forth  before  the  Church  in  their  full  strength 
and  glory,  my  main  purpose  will  be  accomplished. 


CHKONOLOGICAL  TABLES. 


I.  KINGS  OF  JUDAH. 

Began  to  reign      Reigned 

b.  c.  years. 

Rehoboani 975  17 

Abijam 958              3 

Asa 955  41 

Jehoshaphat, 914  25 

Jehoram 891              7 

Ahaziah 884              i     • 

Atbaliab 884              7 

Joash 877  39 

Amaziah 838  27 

Uzziab 811  52 

Jotham 759  16 

Ahaz 743  15 

Hezekiah 728  29 

Manasseh 699  55 

Amon 644              2 

Josiah 642  31 

•  Jeboahaz 611              i 

Jehoiakim 611  11 

Jehoiacbin 600  — 

Zedekiab 600  12 

End  of  tbe  kingdom. . .  588 


II.  KINGS  OF  ISRAEL. 

Began  to  reign    Reigned 

b.  c.  years. 

Jeroboam  1 975  22 

Nadab 954  2 

Baasha 952  22 

Elah 930  1 

Omri 929  11 

Ahab 918  21 

Ahaziah 897  1 

Jeboram 896  12 

Jebu 884  28 

Jeboabaz 856  16 

Joash 840  15 

Jeroboam  II 825  41 

Interregnum 784  11 

Zachariab 773  i 

Shallum 773  r\ 

Menabem 773  12 

Pekabiab 761  2 

Pekah 759  19 

Interregnum 740  9 

Hoshea 731  9 

End  of  tbe  kingdom ...  722 


HI.  HEBREW  PROPHETS. 

B.  C. 

Joel  (supposed) 830-825 

Jonah 823 

Amos 825-759 

Hosea between  825  and  699 

Isaiah 759-699 

Micah 758-699 

Nahum 700 

Jeremiah 629-580 

Zephaniah 624 

Habakkuk 610-588 

Daniel 603-533 

Ezekiel 595-573 

Obadiah 588-580 

Haggai 520 

Zechariah 520 

Ezra 457-432 

Nehemiah  in  Judah  444-432  &  408-400 

Malachi  (supposed) 408400 

N.  B.— In  a  few  of  these  cases  no  cer- 
tain data  exist.  The  figures  should  be 
regarded  as  only  the  nearest  approxi- 
mation to  truth  possible  under  the  cir- 
cumstances. 


IV.  GREAT  EVENTS, 

B.  C. 

Eevolt  of  the  ten  tribes 975 

Shishak,  king  of  Egypt,  at  Jeru- 
salem     970 

Omri  builds  Samaria 929 

Famine  under  Ahab  3i  y'rs .    913-910 

Homer 907 

Carthage  built 885 

First  Olympiad 776 

Rome  founded 753 

End  of  kingdom  of  ten  tribes. . .     722 

Nineveh  destroyed 625 

First  captives  to  Babylon 606 

Jerusalem  destroyed 588 

Confucius 551 

Restoration  from  Babylon 536 

Rome  a  republic 525 

Temple  finished 515 

Pythagoras 497 

Esther 478 

Themistocles 514449 

Herodotus 484-444 

Socrates 


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A  Treatise  on  the  Steam-Engine 

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of  every  part,  and  Practical  Instructions  for  the  Manufacture 
and  Management  of  every  species  of  Engine  in  Actual  Use. 
By  John  Bourne.  Being  the  Seventh  Edition  of  "  A  Treatise 
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The     Old    Testament    History. 

From  the  Creation  to  the  return  of  the  Jews  from  Captivity. 

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he  placed  on  record  as  a  jurist  in  the  East.  The  papers  selected  are  the  Intro- 
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Critical  and  Historical  Essays,  Biographies,  Eeport  and  Notes  on  the  Indian 
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THE  LIFE  OF  MAN  SYMBOLIZED 

BY 

THE    MONTHS    OF    THE    YEAH, 
In,  their  Seasons  and  Phases,  with  Passages  selected  from  Ancient  and 


B^ 


Modern  Authors, 
BICHARD    nG-OTT. 


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vided, to  accord  with  the  Twelve  Months  of  the  Year,  and  the  progress  of 
nature,  from  the  germination  of  the  seed  to  the  decay  of  the  tree. 

The  progressive  developments  of  the  physical  and  moral  attributes  of  Man 
are  shown  in  each  Month  concurrently  with  the  growth  of  the  Year ;  and  tho 
varying  phases  of  his  passions,  pursuits,  and  aspirations  are  exhibited  in  pas- 
sages taken  from  ancient  and  modern  writers.  These  are  cited  in  the  typo- 
graphical characters  of  their  respective  periods,  appropriately  and  suggestively 
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pieces. 

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Each  section  is  preceded  by  two  full-page  engravings,  of  which,  including  the 
general  frontispiece,  there  are  twenty-live,  piinted  within  red  rules.  Twelve 
of  them,  illustrating  the  life  of  man  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave,  also  embody 
the  progress  of  the  seasons,  and  the  varying  aspects  of  nature,  as  seen  under 
an  English  sky.  The  other  twelve  comprise  a  series  of  medallion  portraits, 
from  the  infant  to  the  patriarch,  combined  with  floral  emblems  and  other  sym- 
bolical attributes,  in  keeping  with  the  central  subject. 

Subjects  of  the  Thirteen  Cardinal  Illustrations  : 


Frontispiece.— All  the  World's  a  Stage. 

THE   INFANT. 
January— The  Birth  of  the  Year.    The  ten- 
der offspring  is  rescued  from  the  enow.     The 
scion  parted  from  tho  parent  tree. 
TnE  SCHOOLBOY. 
February.— Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  ho 
enould  go.     As  the  sapling  is  pruned  and  Lent, 
so  will  it  grow. 

THE   STRIPLING. 
March.— Mental  and  physical  exercises  com- 
bine to  develop  the  youthful  faculties.    The 
supple   tree   bends  to    the    breeze,   buds,    and 
etrengtnens. 

THE  LOVEE. 
April.— Love  and  hope  temper  and  teach  the 
early  man— as  the  tree  develops  under  sunshine 
uud  shower. 

THE    FATnER. 
May.— The  man  becomes  the  father  of  many 
children— as  the  tree  extends  its.  branches  au'd 
puts  forth  fruitful  buds. 

THE   SOLDIER. 
June. — With  increased  strength  come  greater 
trials  and  duties — as  the  tree  grows,  more  stout- 
ly dots  it  resist  the  elements. 


THE   MERCHANT. 
July. — The  mind  sobers  with  age.     Gravity 
and  prudence  mark  the  man.     The  laden  treo 
is  leas  agitated  by  every  gentle  breeze. 

THE  MAGISTRATE. 

August. — The  pursuits  of  an  industrious,  use- 
ful life  tend  to  a  peaceful  rest — as  the  fruitful 
tree  reposes  whilst  yet  clothed  with  verdure. 

THE   FHILOSOPnER. 

September. — Man  is  borne  onward.  Wisdom 
and  charity  are  the  solace  of  his  declining  years. 
The  tree  reposes  utter  tilling  the  giiruer  with  ita 
fruit. 

.     THE  GRANDSIEE. 

October. — Infirmities  steal  on.  A  man's  ac- 
tions form  precedents  for  his  grandchildren. — As 
the  tree  decays,  it  enriches  the  soil  for  a  future 
generation. 

TnE  CENSOR. 

November. — The  senses  grow  dim,and  strength 
gradually  fails.  The  venerable  tree,  unable 
longer  to  support  itself,  requires  aid. 

THE   PATRIARCH. 

Decemher. — The  flame  of  life  departs  from  the 
body,  the  spirit  flies, — as  the  withered  trunk  is 
prostrated  before  the  gale. 


D.  Apploton  &  Co.,  443  &  445  Broadway,  N.  Y. 


Date  Due 


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